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we owe humble and heartfelt thanks to the Author of all blessings. The year that has closed has been one of peace within our own borders as well as between us and all other nations. The harvests have been abundant, and those who work, whether with hand or brain, are prospering greatly. Reward has waited upon honest effort. We have been enabled to do our duty to ourselves and to others. Never has there been a time when religious and charitable effort has been more evident. Much has been given to us and much will be expected from us. We speak of what has been done by this nation in no spirit of boastfulness or vainglory, but with full and reverent realization that our strength is as nothing unless we are helped from above. Hitherto we have been given the heart and the strength to do the tasks allotted to us as they severally arose. We are thankful for all that has been done for us in the past, and we pray that in the future we may be strengthened in the unending struggle to do our duty fearlessly and honestly, with charity and goodwill, with respect for ourselves and with love toward our fellow-men. In this great republic the effort to combine national strength with personal freedom is being tried on a scale more gigantic than ever before in the world's history. Our success will mean much not only for ourselves, but for the future of all mankind; and every man or woman in our land should feel the grave responsibility resting upon him or her, for in the last analysis this success must depend upon the high average of our individual citizenship, upon the way in which each of us does his duty by himself and his neighbor.

Now, therefore, I, THEODORE ROOSEVELT, President of the United States, do hereby appoint and set apart Thursday, the twenty-fourth of this November, to be observed as a day of festival and thanksgiving by all the people of the United States at home or abroad, and do recommend that on that day they cease from their ordinary occupations and gather in their several places of worship or in their homes, devoutly to give thanks unto Almighty God for the benefits he has conferred upon us as individuals and as a nation, and to beseech Him that in the future His Divine favor may be continued to us.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

DONE at the City of Washington this 1st day of November, [SEAL.] in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and four and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-ninth.

By the President:

THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

JOHN HAY,

Secretary of State.

INTERNATIONAL PEACE MOVEMENT

[Remarks at the White House, Sept. 24, 1904, on the Occasion of the Reception of the Interparliamentary Union.]

Gentlemen of the Interparliamentary Union:

I greet you with profound pleasure as representatives in a special sense of the great international movement for peace and goodwill among the nations of the earth. It is a matter of gratification to all Americans that we have had the honor of receiving you here as the Nation's guests. You are men skilled in the practical work of government in your several countries; and this fact adds weight to your championship of the cause of international justice. I thank you for your kind allusions to what the Government of the United States has accomplished for the policies you have at heart, and I assure you that this Government's attitude will continue unchanged in reference thereto. We are even now taking steps to secure arbitration treaties with all other Governments which are willing to enter into them with us.

In response to your resolutions I shall at an early date ask the other nations to join in a second Congress at The Hague. I feel, as I am sure you do, that our efforts should take the shape of pushing forward toward completion the work already begun at The Hague, and that whatever is now done should appear not as something divergent therefrom, but as a continuance thereof. At the first conference at The Hague several questions were left unsettled, and it was expressly provided that there should be a second conference. A reasonable time has elapsed, and I feel that your body has shown sound judgment in concluding that a second conference should now be called to carry some steps further toward completion the work of the first. It would be visionary to expect too immediate success for the great cause you are championing; but very substantial progress can be made if we strive with resolution and good sense toward the goal of securing among the nations of the earth, as among the individuals of each nation, a just sense of responsibility in each toward others, and a just recognition in each of the rights of others. The right and the responsibility must go hand in hand. Our effort must be unceasing both to secure in each nation full acknowledgment of the rights of others, and to bring about in each nation an ever growing sense of its own responsibilities.

At an early date I shall issue the call for the conference you request.

I again greet you and bid you welcome in the name of the American people, and wish you God-speed in your efforts for the common good of mankind.

EXECUTIVE ORDERS

WHITE HOUSE, March 1, 1904.

All positions in the civil service of the War Department in the Philippines, except those filled by persons employed merely as skilled or unskilled laborers, and by persons appointed by the President, will be treated as classified under the civil-service rules. The present occupants of these positions who have been specially commended for retention by their chiefs, with the approval of the Secretary of War, and whose names appear on the list furnished the United States Civil Service Commission, may be retained, and after three years' service in such positions shall be eligible for transfer to competitive positions in the United States, subject to the civil-service rules and regulations. THEODORE ROOSEVELT.

WHITE HOUSE, March 10, 1904.

All officials of the Government, civil, military, and naval, are hereby directed not only to observe the President's proclamation of neutrality in the pending war between Russia and Japan, but also to abstain from either action or speech which can legitimately cause irritation to either of the combatants. The Government of the United States represents the people of the United States, not only in the sincerity with which it is endeavoring to keep the scales of neutrality exact and even, but in the sincerity with which it deplores the breaking out of the present war, and hopes that it will end at the earliest possible moment and with the smallest possible loss to those engaged. Such a war inevitably increases and inflames the susceptibilities of the combatants to anything in the nature of an injury or slight by outsiders. Too often combatants make conflicting claims as to the duties and obligations of neutrals, so that even when discharging these duties and obligations with scrupulous care it is difficult to avoid giving offense to one or the other party. To such unavoidable causes of offense, due to the performance of national duty, there must not be added any avoidable causes. It is always unfortunate to bring old-world antipathies and jealousies into our life, or by speech or conduct to excite anger and resentment toward our nation in friendly foreign lands; but in a government employee, whose official position makes him in some sense the representative of the people, the mischief of such actions is greatly increased. A strong and self-confident nation should be peculiarly careful not only of the rights but of the susceptibilities of its neighbors; and nowadays all the nations of the world are neighbors one to the other. Courtesy, moderation, and self-restraint should mark international, no less than private, intercourse.

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THE PANAMA CANAL

The commencement of the task of constructing the Panama Canal was the most important event of Roosevelt's Administration. The history of the undertaking is written by Roosevelt himself on pages 6664, 6718, 6806, 6827, 7021, 7100, 7231, 7268, 7287, 7305 and 7348. The message commencing on page 7305 describes his visit of inspection to the canal zone. President Taft continued the narrative, pages 7370, 7374, 7423, 7482 and 7518. The reader who desires a brief recital of the facts should refer to the article entitled “Panama Canal" in the Encyclopedic Index. The index references following this article will enable the reader to glean a complete and authentic knowledge of the subject from the messages of the Presidents, from Jackson to Wilson, who have discussed the project.

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