We cannot use our great
Alaskan domain, ships will not ply thither, if those coasts and their
many hidden dangers are not thoroughly surveyed and charted. The work is
incomplete at almost every point. Ships and lives have been lost in
threading what were supposed to be well-known main channels. We have not
provided adequate vessels or adequate machinery for the survey and
charting. We have used old vessels that were not big enough or strong
enough and which were so nearly unseaworthy that our inspectors would
not have allowed private owners to send them to sea. This is a matter
which, as I have said, seems small, but is in reality very great. Its
importance has only to be looked into to be appreciated.
Before I close may I say a few words upon two topics, much discussed out
of doors, upon which it is highly important that our judgments should be
clear, definite, and steadfast?
One of these is economy in government expenditures. The duty of economy
is not debatable. It is manifest and imperative. In the appropriations
we pass we are spending the money of the great people whose servants we
are,--not our own. We are trustees and responsible stewards in the
spending.
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