ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. 1277* LXXX. from what country they come. If they are sound in CHAP. body and in mind, and, above all, if they are of good character, so that we can rest assured that their children and grandchildren will be worthy fellow citizens of our children and grandchildren, then we should welcome them with cordial hospitality. But the citizenship of this country should not be debased. It is vital that we should keep high the standard of well-being among our wage-workers, and therefore we should not admit masses of men whose standards of living and whose personal customs and habits are such that they tend to lower the level of the American wage-worker; and above all we should not admit any man of an unworthy type, any man concerning whom we can say that he will himself be a bad citizen, or that his children and grandchildren will detract from instead of adding to the sum of good citizenship of the country. Similarly we should take the greatest care about naturalization. Fraudulent naturalization, the naturalization of improper persons, is a curse to our Government; and it is the affair of every honest voter, wherever born, to see that no fraudulent voting is allowed, that no fraud in connection with naturalization is permitted. "In the past year the cases of false, fraudulent, and improper naturalization of aliens coming to the attention of the executive branches of the Government have increased to an alarming degree. Extensive sales of forged certificates of naturalization have been discovered, as well as many cases of naturalization secured by perjury and fraud; and in addition, instances have accumulated showing that many courts issue certificates of naturalization carelessly and upon insufficient evidence. "Under the Constitution it is in the power of Congress 'to establish a uniform rule of naturalization,' CHAP. and numerous laws have from time to time been enacted LXXX. for that purpose, which have been supplemented in a few States by State laws having special application. The Federal statutes permit naturalization by any court of record in the United States having commonlaw jurisdiction and a seal and clerk, except the police court of the District of Columbia, and nearly all these courts exercise this important function. It results that where so many courts of such varying grades have jurisdiction, there is lack of uniformity in the rules applied in conferring naturalization. Some courts are strict and others lax. An alien who may secure naturalization in one place might be denied it in another, and the intent of the constitutional provision is in fact defeated. Furthermore, the certificates of naturalization issued by the courts differ widely in wording and appearance, and when they are brought into use in foreign countries are frequently subject to suspicion. "There should be a comprehensive revision of the naturalization laws. The courts having power to naturalize should be definitely named by national authority; the testimony upon which naturalization may be conferred should be definitely prescribed; publication of impending naturalization applications should be required in advance of their hearing in court; the form and wording of all certificates issued should be uniform throughout the country, and the courts should be required to make returns to the Secretary of State at stated periods of all naturalizations conferred." The establishment of the Agricultural Department, 1889. in 1889, proved to be of great value to the country. By 1904 the foreign trade had been expanded to such an extent that $600,000,000 worth of vegetable products and $250,000,000 worth of animals or animal products were exported annually, and the trade was still growing. ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. 1279 LXXX. The wise policy of giving Government assistance in CHAP. the line of botanical and agricultural education was begun forty years earlier, when extensive grants of public land were made for the purpose of founding agricultural colleges in the several States. In 1904 these institutions had more than five thousand students. At the same time the Department of Agriculture had two thousand specialists making researches in all branches of the science of production. Not only are the effects of soils and climates upon crops studied and recorded, but by minute and patient examination the scientists. are able to make themselves familiar with the character and habits of the many insects that affect valuable plants, both those that destroy and those that are necessary for fertilization. Remedies are sought and often found for the ravages of the destructive insects. Thus the most serious of these evils is the boll-weevil, which has threatened to destroy the entire cotton crop. This insect came from Central America, being accidentally introduced into Texas. But one of the Department's scientists found in Guatemala an ant that destroys the weevil. The pest of the orchards was that known as the San José scale; but a scientist found near the great wall in China an insect that destroys the scale, and this, being imported into the United States, is restoring the orchards to their natural health and productiveness. The orange and lemon growers have had to contend with another difficulty known as the black scale; but from South Africa has been obtained a fly that conquers this enemy. The new industry of raising figs in California could not have been successful but for the importation of a fertilizing insect from Turkey. The raising of silkworms has been tried in this country several times, but never with much success. Now, with the help of the Department in importing eggs and improved reels, together with expert operatives, CHAP. it is likely to succeed. New varieties of grains, grasses, LXXX. and fruits are being brought from the remotest corners of the earth, to be tried by our farmers and horticulturists. And this is not done at random, but with appropriate care. Among the new fruits now raised in the country are almonds, dates, and mangoes. For seeding some of the comparatively arid lands at the far West, grains were brought from countries where the rainfall is slight, and this experiment proved highly successful. The Department also guards against the importation or exportation of diseased animals, and inspects meats, etc. Crop reports are obtained from 250,000 persons, and exchanges of crop estimates are made with European countries, so that the farmers may know what to expect in the way of competition. For all this the Government spends about $10,000,000 a year, and the tendency is to make agriculture, usually one of the poorest occupations, one of the best. Closely allied to this work was the great advance in irrigation and forestry. The Government's irrigation works, for the arid lands of the West, were placed in the charge of the most competent engineers. At the same time the plan of forest reserves on the public lands will not only preserve the supply of timber from reckless destruction but hold the rainfall for gradual spread and use through the streams. These measures will ultimately cover with comfortable homesteads the vast area that used to appear on the maps as The Great American Desert. A new department of the Federal Government, designated as the Department of Commerce and Labor, was created by a law which the President signed on 1903. February 14, 1903. This adds another member to Feb. 14. the Cabinet. George B. Cortelyou was the first incumbent of the new Secretaryship. The clause in the new Constitution of Alabama ROOSEVELT'S ADMINISTRATION. 1281 LXXX. which disfranchises colored men was sustained by a CHAP. decision of the United States Supreme Court, April 27, 1903. The cities have maintained their usual steady growth, which appears to be the universal law, but for some reasons is to be deplored. Three of our largest cities have had notable events. New York, which had been confined to the island of Manhattan, was expanded into what is popularly called Greater New York. This includes Staten Island, a considerable territory north of Harlem River, Brooklyn, Long Island City, and a portion of Queens County. The five portions are called the Boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Richmond, Queens, and the Bronx. The constantly increasing congestion of travel within the city called for additional means of rapid transit, and a subway, with four tracks, was constructed on the island of Manhattan and opened for travel late in 1904. And immediately work was begun for extending this work to Brooklyn by means of a tunnel under the East River. Chicago, now the second city in point of population, celebrated, from September 26 to October 1, 1903, the hundredth anniversary of the first settlement on its site. 1903. Apr. 27. The hundredth anniversary of the acquisition of the 1904. Apr. 30 Louisiana Territory was commemorated by a world's to fair at St. Louis, in the summer of 1904. This exposi- Dec. 1. tion, in its main features, closely resembled the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893, but was more extensive. A reciprocity treaty with Cuba was ratified by the Cuban Senate on March 11, 1903, and by the United States Senate March 19, and a bill in accordance therewith was passed by the House of Representatives November 19. Meanwhile, July 2, Cuba ceded to the Nov. 19. 1903. |
