Porto Rico, and for other purposes," I transmit herewith an ordinance approved by me on October 27, 1902, granting the consent of the executive council of Porto Rico to the assignment by the Compañia de los Ferrocarriles de Puerto Rico to Henry De Ford, his heirs, executors, and assigns, and to a proposed corporation to be designated and known as "The American Railroad Company of Porto Rico, Central Aguirre Operator," of the right to construct, operate, and maintain the railroad line from Ponce to Guayama, authorized by the executive council of Porto Rico on October 28, 1901, and to construct and operate a branch line from Ponce to the Ponce Playa and a branch line from Guayama to Arroyo. To the Senate: THEODORE ROOSEVELT. WHITE HOUSE, Washington, December 8, 1902. I transmit herewith a report from the Acting Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, in response to the Senate's resolution of June 30, 1902, requesting the Secretary of State "to send to the Senate a statement of the expenditures of the Isthmian Canal Commission, under the act approved March 3, 1899, 'making appropriations for the construction, repair, and preservation of certain public works on rivers and harbors, and for other purposes,' as the same are accounted for by said Isthmian Canal Commission, and also whether there is any deficit in the appropriation which is to be or has been provided for by further appropriations." THEODORE ROOSEVELT. WHITE HOUSE, Washington, December 9, 1902. To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State accompanying the second annual report of the governor of Porto Rico, and indorse the suggestion that the interest attaching to it may warrant its being printed for the use of Congress. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. WHITE HOUSE, Washington, December 9, 1902 To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith, for the determination of Congress as to whether relief should not be afforded to the owners of the British schooner Lillie, a report of the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, showing that the vessel sustained damages by a fire which broke out within her while she was being disinfected with sulphur and while she was in charge of the United States quarantine officer at Ship Island. near Biloxi, Miss. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. To the Senate: WHITE HOUSE, Washington, December 9, 1902. In response to the Senate resolution of the 4th instant, I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State forwarding the report of the agent of the United States in the case of the United States v. Mexico before the Permanent Court of Arbitration under the Hague Convention. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. WHITE HOUSE, December 10, 1902. To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, relative to the proceedings of the International Congress for the Study of the Production and Consumption of Coffee, which, in pursuance of a resolution adopted by the Second International Conference of American States, was in session at the city of New York from October 1 to October 31, 1902, investigating the causes which are producing the crisis through which that industry is passing. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. To the Congress: WHITE HOUSE, December 15, 1902. I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State in regard to the killing, on July 11, 1901, by an armed mob, at Erwin, Miss., of Giovanni and Vincenzo Serio, and the wounding by the same mob of Salvatore Liberto, all subjects of the King of Italy, and recommend that, as an act of grace and without reference to the question of the liability of the United States, Congress make suitable provision for the heirs of the two Italian subjects killed and for the survivor, Salvatore Liberto, who was injured, the proceeds to be distributed by the Italian Government in such manner as it may deem proper. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. WHITE HOUSE, January 6, 1903. To the Senate and House of Representatives: Referring to section 32 of the act approved April 12, 1900, entitled "An act temporarily to provide revenues and a civil government for Porto Rico, and for other purposes," I transmit herewith an ordinance enacted by the executive council of Porto Rico on December 3, 1902, granting to Benjamin J. Horton the right to construct, operate, and maintain a system of long-distance telephone lines extending through the islands of Porto Rico and connecting various cities and towns thereof, together with local telephone exchanges in such cities and towns. This ordinance was approved by the President of the United States on December 31, 1902. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. WHITE HOUSE, January 6, 1903. To the Senate and House of Representatives: I transmit herewith a report from the Secretary of State covering a statement showing the receipts and disbursements of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company for the month of November, 1902, furnished by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission in pursuance of section II of the "Act to provide for celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory," etc., approved March 3, 1901. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. WHITE HOUSE, January 7, 1903. To the Senate and House of Representatives: I herewith send a letter from the Secretary of War, transmitting the third annual report of the Philippine Commission, covering the year ending October 1, 1902, and the laws passed by the Commission between July 1, 1902, and October 27, 1902. I call your special attention to the recommendations contained in this letter of the Secretary of War. I most earnestly feel that the enactment of the measures already pending in your body for the betterment of the Philippine Islands is imperatively demanded by the situation in those islands, and serious calamity may come from failure to enact them. Furthermore, I with equal earnestness ask your attention to the recommendation of the Secretary of War in the accompanying letter and urge its adoption, so that the sum of money therein specified may be appropriated for the uses and in the manner like ROOSEVELT DAM. "June 17, 1902, Congress passed the reclamation law, which provided for the construction of irrigation works by the United States Government. . The cost of the work is to be repaid by the settlers, who use the water, in ten annual installments, and when the payments have been made for a majority of the lands included in any project the management and operation of such project are to be turned over to the owners, to be maintained at their expense. The receipts from the sale of land and the use of water are to form a perpetual reclamation fund. Public lands included in reclamation projects may be acquired only under the terms of the homestead law, and the commutation clause of that law does not apply to such lands. "Up to 1909 the Government had selected for reclamation more than two million acres at an estimated cost of nearly $90,000,000. Under the Carey act the States have selected for reclamation and had assigned to them up to July 1, 1908, 3,239,285 acres. Idaho and Wyoming, each having disposed of the 1,000,000 acres allowed them under the law, were granted an additional 1,000,000 acres for the same purpose." Quoted from the article "Irrigation" in the Encyclopedic Index, which brings the statistics up to date. The Roosevelt dam, in the valley of the Salt River, Arizona, is one of the monster engineering creations of America. Begun on September 20, 1906, it was dedicated by the President whose name it bears on March 18, 1911. The dam, located in a region which, previously to its construction, was well-nigh inaccessible, was built both to conserve floods and to develop power. It is 284 feet high and 1,080 feet long on its crest; contains 326,000 cubic yards; required 346,000 barrels of cement in its construction; and opened up for cultivation more than 250,000 acres. The dam was built by Uncle Sam's Reclamation Service. |