Mr. Roosevelt's seventh and last Message to Congress was read
to both Houses on Tuesday. Dealing with Labour questions, he advocates the prohibition of child labour, the diminution of woman labour, and the shortening of hours of all mechanical labour. He recommends the imposition of a progressive Inheritance-tax on large fortunes, and, as far as possible, the lightening of the burden of taxation on the5small man. The National Government, he holds, should legislate in thoroughgoing fashion to secure the insurance of all wage workers; but it is not at present necessary to consider the larger and more general Governmental old-age pension schemes adopted by most European Governments. He notes, however, with regret that in this respect the generosity of the United States towards her employees compares most un- favourably with that of even the poorest European States.
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