Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1873-06-03
MORE ABOUT THE RURAL SUN.

of Tennessee. We have from the first is
sue of the CHRONICLE given prominence
i'm our columns to all movements calcula-
ted to awaken the farmers of East Tonnes
see to the importance of their work. We
! have never professed extraordinary zeal in
the matter, but have suffered our works
rather than our words to attest our interest
in the cause. While we desire to promote
the interest of the farmers, we also feel it
our duty to put them on their guard against
{ allshams and super-zealous champions.
The publisher of the Rural Sun, iDEa
speech in the recent Farmers Conventlt u,
made an unproyoked, mean and malicious
assault upon us and all editors of Io-
litical and news journals. In self
defence and from desire to show
the farmers why the gentlemen connected
with the Sun are so super, jealous and dis
interested on their behalf, we desire to
ventilate Mr.. Griffith who is foolish
enough to 60 about the country assailing
newspaper editors without cause.
The Rural SIM is published at Nasll-
vile, by joint stock company. Among
the stockholders are Gov. John G. Brown,
Gen. N. 6. !Harding, Maj John Me- avock,
Gen. w. Ell. Jackson j. B. Killebrew,
Col. Thos B. Johnson, DR.. J. NJ. Stafford,
Prof Hunter Nicholson, j. o. Griffith,
I'M. Carnes, ct. al. These gentlemen are
the principal stockholders of the Sun.
Gov Brown heads the list. The Legisla-
ture of 1871, passed an act establishing
State Agricultural Bureau.
The Bureau thus established is compos-
ed of the following Commissioners Prof.
Hunter Nicholson and Tom. Crutchfield,
of East Tennessee; Gen. w. III. Jackson,
J..B. Killebrew and DIR. j. M. Stafford, of
Middle Tennessee, and Hurt and Haynes,
of West Tennessee. Four of these Com
missioners, mark it now, are stockholders
of the Rural San, appointed by Governor
John G. Brown stakeholder of the same
paper. On the 14th of December last the
Legislature passed an act entitled "An Act
to Amend an Act to Establish Bureau of
Agriculture" but which, if our informa-
tion is correct, should have been entitled
- Gan Act to support the R,uaI Sun." The
first provision Of this act provides that the
Chemist shall perform whatever duties may
be required of him by the Commissioners
ofAgricultre. The second section repeats
ten and eleven of the act of 1871, and fixes
the salary of Secretary and Chemist at
whatever the Commissioners judge them
= to be worth. The third section appropri>
ates, annually, ten thousand dollars for the
expenses of the Bureau, exclusive of the
PRINTING, to bedisbursed by direction of the
Commissioners. The sections of the act of
1871 repealed by the second section of the
act of 1873, fixed the salary of Secretary at
( sic hundred dollars and expenses-total
not to exceed one thousand; and that of
Chemistlat fee for each analysis-total not
to exceed five hundred dollars. Now the
importance of all this will appear when we
give the organization of this Agricultural
Bureau, As we are informed, the organ
ization is as follows: j. B. Killebrew, Sec
rotary of Bureau DR.. J. M. Stafford, Chem
list; c. w. Charlton, Secretary, East Ten
nessee. and J. J. Donohue for West Ten
nessee. -zs ..s, -, .-.-, --
J. b. Kilebrew, the Secretary, is editor of
the Sun. J. M. Stafford, the Chemist, is
assistant editor of the Sun, and Mr.. Charl-
ton is, we believe, an agent of the same pa
per. Now we understand that it is gener-
ally reported and believed in Nashville
that Killebrew gets salary of $4,000.
Charlton and Donehue each 81 900, and
that DR.. Stafford gets good salary, but
how much we can not say. In addition to
his salary as Secretary, Mr. Charlton. we
doubt not, earns fair salary out of his
agency for the Sun.
L. Oh f<,f n, IF
these salaries, but give them as we hear
- hem. If not true, the Sun will give the
exact figures. The beauty of this ma
chinery is beyond description. Gov.
Brown, who is a Sun stakeholder, ap-
points the commissioners, four of the seven
being stockholders of the Sun. The COM
missioners elect the officers and disburse
the SO, 600 annually given to the Bureau.
Two of the officers are editors of the Sun.
and the third is an agent The printing,
which the law 'wisely" provides for out
side of the $4,000 allowed for expenses, is
perhaps also given to the Sun. Who
wouldn't own stock in the Rural Sun
Can not the farmers of East Tennessee
now see through their "disinterested
friends who worked up a part of their
recent convention and put through a little
resolution making the Sun their organ 2
There are three or four other good agricul-
tural papers in Tennessee but it seems the
peculiar province of the State authorities
is to look after the Rural Sun. These facts
will perhaps explain how Mr.. Griffith can
have such full and able corps of editors
who are not subject to the weaknesses of
q ordinary editors whose papers stand on
their merits and win the support of the
farmers" by showing their friendship by
works. These facts will also show the
farmers why the R1al Sun stockholders