Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-02-23

= this bill: "The Edmunds bill has some strong
). | points and some weak ones. There is danger
, that the law will be spitefully used, and the
. same difficulty in proving the guilt of par
' ties now living in pol ygamy will be expert
! enced that now prevails. But it places the
election machinery of the Territ DRY in loyal
+ hands, and that will eventually bring about
a change. The bill is not, however, full
enough in this respect. The bill is generous
in its pay OF commissioners; it is faulty in
asmuch as it doubles the work Of the secre-
tary and perhaps imposes on him the neces-
sity of employing assistants and provides for
no remuneration to him. The bill is COM
IN ,ncement it will help somewhat"
THE AGRICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
The observant and thoughtful student o.
our legislative history, whether State or
Federal, will scarcely escape the impression
that one of its most faulty features Is re-
vealed in the ng-established and constantly
growing tendency to the development OF
fanciful theories rather than to the accom-
plishment of practical results, upon which
must rest the real prosperity and well-being
Of the masses. This is strikingly' observable
in the proceedings of every session OF Con
gress, when more than half the time is spent
In the discussion and advocacy of measures
in which only a very small number OF the
1 people feel the slightest interest, or from
which they will ever derive the least benefit
Noisy declaimers and ambitious aspirants for
public notoriety of any kind delight to de-
liver themselves OF carefully prepared disser-
tations upon some sensational question cal
culated to convulse the whole country with
an unhealthy excitement, without ever paus-
ing for a moment to consider in what way
the public will be benefited by its discus
sion. While great national interests of vital
concern 10 the people of every grade and
section are allowed to languish upon the very
! verge of total destruction, pleading for the
| fostering legislation that would give them
vitality and expansion commensurate with
their importance, those whose duty it
! is to give them the needed protection
\ have devoted their time and abilities in angry
partisan wrangling as to the proper method
of counting the electoral vote in an emergency
T. which may never occur in thousand years,
or in trying to devise some method of dis
tributing party spoils or government patron
age, by which the largest number of party
henchmen will be provided for with the least
complaint upon the part of those who cannot
share the party plumber. Perhaps all this
is Incidental to our system of government
and in a measure unavoidable, and possibly
the serious harm which at first glance would
seem inevitable may not result from it SO
long as we are fortunate enough to have in
the public councils of the country sufficient
number of men who have the practical jldg-
ment to observe what measures are needed to
secure the common good, and who possess
the integrity and ability to embody them in
legislative enactments. Fortunately, at
every period of our history, we have had
men of this character, to whose broad com |
prehension of public necessities, and their |
capacity to meet their requirements, we are !
indebted for all the useful and benefcient |
legislation of the past, and to whom we must |
look in the future for wise and states |
manlike direction of public affairs. |
Representative men Of this class are psgin- !
ming to attract more OF public attention and
to receive juster and higher appreciation
from their constituents and contemporaries
in official station than they formerly did.
Among the number who are thus receiving
well-deserved popular commentator the
most conspicuous, perhaps, is the Hon. Her
nande ID. Money, the scholarly and gifted
representative from the Third district of
Mississippi, who has recently introduced two
bills in Congress that will, if they become
laws, confer more substantial benefits upon
the masses of the people than any other
measures that have been proposed since the
enactment of the presumption and home
stead laws. We have in a previous article
made reference 10 his bill to establish postal
savings repositories, in which poor laboring
people can secure safe custody for their small
fluctuations and disasters. But beneficial as
this measure will be in Its operations, we
deem it of far less Importance than his bill II
introduced in the House on the 10th of jan 4
uary, published in full elsewhere in the AP-
PEAL, and subsequently introduced in the
Senate by Senator George, to make the agri-
cultural bureau an executive department
aud its head a cabinet officer. 1t is surpris-
ing that subject of this vast public concern
anu buCH opcSAai AhhCACSij SohaOAAhS oS - \
does every other interest of the whole
country, should heretofore have re-
ceived so little care and attention
from the general government. 1t is true
there has been enough said about it in Con-
gress of late, and sufficient willingness mani
tested to do something for the bone and
sinew of the country-the hardy tillers OF
- L -, Il I'll lev H. I
broad and deep foundation upon which rests
our vast national wealth and boundless pub
lie prosperity-butth the efforts made were fee.
Bile and i'll directed, manifesting a want of
capacity to comprehend what was really
needed. 1t is fortunate thing for the far
mers of the country that they have at last
found friend and advocate of their inter-
ests who has not only the ability to compre-
bend them, but the courage and capacity to
protect them. Let this bill become a law,
and the agricultural department put upon
an equal footing with the other great depart
ments of the Federal government, and pre-
sided over by a cabinet officer of character
and ability BETTING the importance of the
position, and the agriculturists will feel that
they are at least equal in the care and pro-
lection of the government with their fellow ,
citizens of every other vocation, and agri-
cultural progress will receive stimulus that
will carry it forward with strides hitherto
unknown. The APPEAL will always be glad
to advocate measure SO well calculated to
advance the interest of those who contribute
more to the public good and receive less than
any other class of our people. We hope the
farmers in every section of the country will
move in this matter through their grange
and other organizations, and bring to the
assistance OF Mr.. Money whatever influence
they can command. They can rely upon
the active support and cooperation of the
APPEAL until the desired result is accom-
plished. u