Los Angeles herald., 1891-05-11
HAYSEED GALL.

When Uncle Jerry Rusk coolly under
took, at the banquet given to President
Harrison in San Francisco, to appro-
pirate the credit for introducing the
Australian lady-bug into California, he
gave a fine example OF how hard the
cheek of an innocuous granger could be
when circumstances called for the
pachydermatous article. At that ban
ouet, under the gentle beguiling of
General Barnes, he acquitted himself
of the following astonishing statement:
l got you your lady-bug from Au-
stralia, and | am proud to tell you that
l have got man down there getting
more bugs that will destroy every sus-
picion of blight that dares rest upon
this fair land. If there is anything else
you want, let me know and I'll send 1t
to you.
The Hon. Frank McCoppin is mod
est man and not at all prone to assert
himself. He, as everybody in California
knows, with the possible exception of
General Barnes, deserves the credit for
the introduction of the Australian para
site into this state. He must, therefore,
have heard of this singular announce
ment of Uncle Jerry's with a great deal
of amazement. Indifferent about his
own claims, he was not prepared to see
the administration of President Cleve-
land deprived of the distinction of hav-
ing saved the orange groves of this state.
When Mr.. McCoppin enters the contro-
versial arena he generally, in the
language of the sporting world, 'gets
there" He addressed to the editor of
the Examiner note from which we
take the following:
l am not surprised that General
Barnes should have fallen into error in
regard to matter with which he was
not personally connected besides,
events follow each other so rapidly that
one may be mistaken about a thing of
this sort, but can think of no explana-
ton for Secretary Rusk's astonishing
declaration. President Cleveland ap-
pointed the commission to Australia,
and his secretary of state, the Hon. T.
F. Bayard, controlled its operations
throughout, and 1T was by his express
permission that portion of the funds
appropriated by congress for representa-
tion at the Melbourne exhibition was
used for paying the expenses of the en-
tomologists who went out to Australia
and found the lady-bug and brought it
to this country. This work was all done
in the latter part of 1888, under Cleve-
lands administration and before Har-
rison was elected president, and in fact
before the cabinet Office now known as
the secretary of agriculture was created
by congress.
Our modest granger of the hayseed
bureau comes from the west, and he has
stored away in his capacious mind the
noble sentiment of the Missouri editor,
"whoso bloweth not his own bazoo, the
same shall not be bowed" The secre-
taryship of agriculture was not even in
existence when MIR. McCoppin for
warded the lady-bug from Australia.
The equivalent office was the commis-
sionership of agriculture. What Re-
publican will not claim, however, must
be very unconsidered trife indeed.
From the growing grass to the cotton
crop of the south-which latter, by the
way, is the steady and reliable factor
that has kept the balance of trade
with Europe in our favor-the Re
publican party want the credit of it all.
One might have supposed that the di-
minutive little Australian parasite would
have escaped their voracious nav, but
by no means. They are ready even to
appropriate a California sunbeam and
rob Dame Nature herself OF any initiative
in the good things of earth.