shall any patent be declared invalid by reason of its having been first patented or caused to be patented by the inventor or his legal representatives or assigns in a foreign country, unless the application for said foreign patent was filed more than twelve months, in cases within the provisions of section 4886 of the Revised Statutes, and four months, in cases of designs, prior to the filing of the application in this country, in which case no patent shall be granted in this country.

"An application for patent for an invention, or discovery, or for a design filed in this country by any person who has previously regularly filed an application for a patent for the same invention, discovery, or design in a foreign country which, by Treaty, Convention, or law, affords similar privileges to citizens of the United States shall have the same force and effect as the same application would have if filed in this country on the date on which the application for patent for the same invention, discovery, or design was first filed in such foreign country: Provided the application in this country is filed within twelve months in cases within the provisions of section 4886 of the Revised Statutes, and within four months in cases of designs, from the earliest date on which any such foreign application was filed. But no patent shall be granted on an application for patent for an invention, or discovery, or a design which had been patented or described in a printed publication in this or any foreign country more than two years before the date of the actual filing of the application in this country, or which had been in public use or on sale in this country for more than two years prior to such filing."

Sec. 2. That section 4892 of the Revised Statutes is amended by inserting after the words "notary public" the words "Judge or Magistrate having an official seal and authorized to administer oaths," and by adding at the end thereof the words "whose authority shall be proved by certificate of a Diplomatic or Consular officer of the United States," so that the section so amended shall read:

"Section 4892. The applicant shall make oath that he does verily believe himself to be the original and first inventor or discoverer of the art, machine, manufacture, composition, or improvement for which he solicits a patent; that he does not know and does not believe that the same was ever before known or used; and shall state of what country he is a citizen. Such oath may be made before any person within the United States authorized by law to administer oaths, or, when the applicant resides in a foreign country, before any Minister, Chargé d'Affaires, Consul, or Commercial Agent holding commission under the Government of the United States, or before any notary public, Judge, or Magistrate

having an official seal and authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country in which the applicant may be, whose authority shall be proved by certificate of a Diplomatic or Consular officer of the United States."

Sec. 3. That section 4896 of the Revised Statutes is amended by adding thereto the following sentence: "The executor or administrator duly authorized under the law of any foreign country to administer upon the estate of the deceased inventor shall, in case the said inventor was not domiciled in the United States at the time of his death, have the right to apply for and obtain the patent. The authority of such foreign executor or administrator shall be proved by certificate of a Diplomatic or Consular officer of the United States"; so that the section so amended shall read as follows:

"Section 4896. When any person, having made any new invention or discovery for which a patent might have been granted, dies before a patent is granted, the right of applying for and obtaining the patent shall devolve on his executor or administrator, in trust for the heirs at law of the deceased, in case he shall have died intestate; or if he shall have left a will disposing of the same, then in trust for his devises, in as full manner and on the same terms and conditions as the same might have been claimed or enjoyed by him in his lifetime; and when the application is made by such legal representatives the oath or affirmation required to be made shall be so varied in form that it can be made by them. The executor or administrator duly authorized under the law of any foreign country to administer upon the estate of the deceased inventor shall, in case the said inventor was not domiciled in the United States at the time of his death, have the right to apply for and obtain the patent. The authority of such foreign executor or administrator shall be proved by certificate of a Diplomatic or Consular officer of the United States."

Sec. 4. That section 4902 is amended by striking out the words "citizen of the United States" in the first line thereof, and substituting the word "person" in place thereof, and by striking out the last clause of said section; so that this section so amended shall read as follows:

"Section 4902. Any person who makes any new invention or discovery and desires further time to mature the same may, on payment of the fees required by law, file in the Patent Office a caveat setting forth the design thereof and of its distinguishing characteristics, and praying protection of his right until he shall have matured his invention. Such caveat shall be filed in the confidential archives of the office and preserved in secrecy, and shall be operative for the term of one year from the filing thereof; and if

application is made within the year by any other person for a patent with which such caveat would in any manner interfere the Commissioner shall deposit the description, specification, drawings, and model of such application in like manner in the confidential archives of the office and give notice thereof by mail to the person by whom the caveat was filed. If such person desires to avail himself of his caveat he shall file his description, specifications, drawings, and model within three months from the time of placing the notice in the post office in Washington, with the usual time required for transmitting it to the caveator added thereto, which time shall be indorsed on the notice."

Approved, the 3rd March, 1903.

MESSAGE of the President of the United States, on the Opening of Congress.-Washington, December 6, 1904.

TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

THE nation continues to enjoy noteworthy prosperity. Such prosperity is, of course, primarily due to the high individual average of our citizenship, taken together with our great natural resources; but an importaut factor therein is the working of our longcontinued governmental policies. The people have emphatically expressed their approval of the principles underlying these policies and their desire that these principles be kept substantially unchanged, although, of course, applied in a progressive spirit to meet changing conditions.

The enlargement of scope of the functions of the national Government required by our development as a nation involves, of course, increase of expense, and the period of prosperity through which the country is passing justifies expenditures for permanent improvements far greater than would be wise in hard times. Battle-ships and forts, public buildings and improved waterways, are investments which should be made when we have the money; but abundant revenues and a large surplus always invite extravagance, and constant care should be taken to guard against unnecessary increase of the ordinary expenses of Government. The cost of doing Government business should be regulated with the same rigid scrutiny as the cost of doing a private business.

In the vast and complicated mechanism of our modern civilized life the dominant note is the note of industrialism, and the rela{1904-1905. XCVIII.]

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tions of capital and labour, and especially of organized capital and organized labour, to each other and to the public at large come second in importance only to the intimate questions of family life. Our peculiar form of government, with its sharp division of authority between the nation and the several States, has been on the whole far more advantageous to our development than a more strongly centralized Government. But it is undoubtedly responsible for much of the difficulty of meeting with adequate legislation the new problems presented by the total change in industrial conditions on this continent during the last half century. In actual practice it has proved exceedingly difficult, and in many cases impossible, to get unanimity of wise action among the various States on these subjects. From the very nature of the case this is especially true of the laws affecting the employment of capital in huge masses.

With regard to labour the problem is no less important, but it is simpler. As long as the States retain the primary control of the police power the circumstances must be altogether extreme which require interference by the Federal authorities, whether in the way of safeguarding the rights of labour or in the way of seeing that wrong is not done by unruly persons who shield themselves behind the name of labour. If there is resistance to the Federal Courts, interference with the mails or inter-State commerce, or molestation of Federal property, or if the State authorities, in some crisis which they are unable to face, call for help, then the Federal Government may interfere; but though such interference may be caused by a condition of things arising out of trouble connected with some question of labour, the interference itself simply takes the form of restoring order without regard to the questions which have caused the breach of order, for to keep order is a primary duty, and in a time of disorder and violence all other questions sink into abeyance until order has been restored. In the District of Columbia and in the Territories the Federal law covers the entire field of govern ment; but the labour question is only acute in populous centres of commerce, manufactures, or mining. Nevertheless, both in the enactment and in the enforcement of law the Federal Government within its restricted sphere should set an example to the State Governments, especially in a matter so vital as this affecting labour. I believe that, urder modern industrial conditions, it is often necessary, and even where not necessary it is yet often wise, that there should be organization of labour in order better to secure the rights of the individual wage-werker. All encouragement should be given to any such organization so long as it is conducted with a due and decent regard for the rights of others. There are in this country some labour unions which have habitually, and other labour unions which have often, been among the most effective agents in working

for good citizenship and for uplifting the condition of those whose welfare should be closest to our hearts. But when any labour union seeks improper ends, or seeks to achieve proper ends by improper means, all good citizens, and more especially all honourable public servants, must oppose the wrongdoing as resolutely as they would oppose the wrongdoing of any great corporation. Of course, any violence, brutality, or corruption should not for one moment be tolerated. Wage-workers have an entire right to organize, and by all peaceful and honourable means to endeavour to persuade their fellows to join with them in organizations. They have a legal right, which, according to circumstances, may or may not be a moral right, to refuse to work in company with men who decline to join their organizations. They have under no circumstances the right to commit violence upon those, whether capitalists or wage-workers, who refuse to support their organizations, or who side with those with whom they are at odds, for mob rule is intolerable in any form.

The wage-workers are peculiarly entitled to the protection and the encouragement of the law. From the very nature of their occupation, railroad men, for instance, are liable to be maimed in doing the legitimate work of their profession, unless the railroad companies are required by law to make ample provision for their safety. The Administration has been zealous in enforcing the existing law for this purpose. That law should be amended and strengthened. Wherever the National Government has power there should be a stringent employer's liability law, which should apply to the Government itself where the Government is an employer of labour.

In my Message to the Fifty-seventh Congress, at its second Session, I urged the passage of an employer's liability law for the District of Columbia. I now renew that recommendation, and further recommend that the Congress appoint a Commission to make a comprehensive study of employer's liability with the view of extending the provisions of a great and constitutional law to all employments within the scope of Federal power.

The Government has recognized heroism upon the water, and bestows medals of honour upon those persons who, by extreme and heroic daring, have endangered their lives in saving, or endeavouring to save lives from the perils of the sea in the waters over which the United States has jurisdiction, or upon an American vessel. This recognition should be extended to cover cases of conspicuous bravery and self-sacrifice in the saving of life in private employments under the jurisdiction of the United States, and particularly in the land commerce of the nation.

The ever increasing casualty list upon our railroads is a matter of grave public concern, and urgently calls for action by the