of the improvement the cruise has worked in this already high condition.  I do not believe that there is any other service in the world in which the average of character and efficiency in the enlisted men is as high as is now the case in our own.  I believe that the same statement can be made as to our officers, taken as a whole; but there must be a reservation made in regard to those in the highest ranks—­as to which I have already spoken—­and in regard to those who have just entered the service; because we do not now get full benefit from our excellent naval school at Annapolis.  It is absurd not to graduate the midshipmen as ensigns; to keep them for two years in such an anomalous position as at present the law requires is detrimental to them and to the service.  In the academy itself, every first classman should be required in turn to serve as petty officer and officer; his ability to discharge his duties as such should be a prerequisite to his going into the line, and his success in commanding should largely determine his standing at graduation.  The Board of Visitors should be appointed in January, and each member should be required to give at least six days’ service, only from one to three days’ to be performed during June week, which is the least desirable time for the board to be at Annapolis so far as benefiting the Navy by their observations is concerned.

The white house,

Tuesday, December 8, 1908.

***

State of the Union Address
William H. Taft
December 7, 1909

The relations of the United States with all foreign governments have continued upon the normal basis of amity and good understanding, and are very generally satisfactory.  Europe.

Pursuant to the provisions of the general treaty of arbitration concluded between the United States and Great Britain, April 4, 1908, a special agreement was entered into between the two countries on January 27, 1909, for the submission of questions relating to the fisheries on the North Atlantic Coast to a tribunal to be formed from members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.

In accordance with the provisions of the special agreement the printed case of each Government was, on October 4 last, submitted to the other and to the Arbitral Tribunal at The Hague, and the counter case of the United States is now in course of preparation.

The American rights under the fisheries article of the Treaty of 1818 have been a cause of difference between the United States and Great Britain for nearly seventy years.  The interests involved are of great importance to the American fishing industry, and the final settlement of the controversy will remove a source of constant irritation and complaint.  This is the first case involving such great international questions which has been submitted to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.