The National tribune., 1882-05-20

wealth and the basis of all prosperity, and
it is quite as much the duty of the Govern
rent to protect and nourish the interests of
the farmer as the manufacturer or merchant.
We maintain a high tariff in order to stimu-
late the growth of home industries and we
refuse 70 grant an American register to
foreign built ships for similar reason, anG
it would be folly to deny that the promo
ton of our agricultural development Is not
equally deserving of consideration. Inc
only point upon which there can DE any
honest difference of opinion concerns the
character Of the encouragement which snouIo
be extended and the manner III when IL
should be given. We are quite willing to
admit that the management of the Arlcul-
tural Department in the past has not always
been what it should have been, but that has
been due to the vagaries of incompetent
officials. who cared more for the establish
ment of pet theories than the practical
result to the farmer of the work Of the De-
partment.
Nor is it valid objection to the repre-
sentation of the Department in the Cabinet
that it is not an actual part Of the machin-
cry of the Government. In foreign cOun-
tries, and notably in France, the minister OF
agriculture possesses coordinate powers with
the other members of the Cabinet and shares
equally with his fellow ministers the re-
sponsibility of shaping the policy of the
administration. There is certainly nothing
| in the nature Of his duties which renders
him less fitted to take part in the delibera-
tions OF Cabinet council than the Postmas-
ter General or the Secretary of the Interior,
neither of whom are directly concerned in
! questions touching the foreign relations of
the country. The Secretary Of the Agricul-
/ tural Department should, of course, be a
statesman possessing a general knowledge
of the science of government as well as a
special acquaintance with the duties of his
Office, and we take it that the President
would be likely to exercise the same dis
cretion in filing that post as in making any
ether Cabinet appointment.
As for the demand, so frequently made by
such partisan journals as the New York SIN,
that the Department be abolished altogether,
that is manilestly unworthy Of serious con-
sideration Notwithstanding its limited
means, it has already done great deal to
advance the agricultural interests Of the
country, and none are more ready to recog-
nize that fact than the farmers themselves.
Time was when they laughed at the idea
that science could accomplish anything in
the way OF improving on the old methods
OF tilling the soil, but they laugh no longer
1t is to the labors and investigations of such
men as the Agricultural Department experts
that they owe many of the most valuable
discoveries that have beer made concerning
the propagation of fruits and flowers, the
adaptibility of various soils to plant growth,
tne comparative utility of fartifcioi fertilizers,
the rotation of crops. the domestication OF
foreign products, the recurrence of insect
plaques &c. There is no country on the
face of the globe where intelligent farming
is SO general as in the United States, and
irasmuch as it is to the New World that the
Old must henceforwaTd look TO make good
the deficit in its food supply, it behooves Us
to make the development of our agricultural
resources the object of our special care and
attention. BY all means let the Agricul
tural Department be represented in the Cabi
net, and generously endowed with the
means to carry ON its work.