The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1892-10-12
DODGE AND HIS CRITICS.
lhe Government statistician Wind icates
His Crop Reports and Methods.


His Crop Reports and Methods.
The vigorous reply OF the statistcian
Of the department Of agriculture TO Sen
ator Vests charge that the department
crop reports are not reliable and are
used for ock jobbing PURPOSES. is of
special interest here, as IL concerns tie
cot on and wheat crop reports. Stutisui-
clan Dodge wrote "a letter to Senator
Allison, who Is the chairman OF the
senate appropriation COMMITTEES, from
which we make few excerpts
NO cotton report, either under the pre
vious administration. or Of any other ad-
nlnistration since the time OF Isaac
Newton, ever was prematurely pub
lished.n
Relative to the senator's statement in
regard To the so-called controversy with a
local cotton exchange, the facts referred
To were not stated in any crop report, but
were quoted from The crop movement
records OF the New Orleans Cotton Ex-
change and Ellison's crop consumption
of the world, asd were prese ited AS "A
plea to American planters to save them
selves from ruin by reduction Of acre
age, which Vas 50 far needed, as indi-
Gated by my June report of acreage, as O
show an apparent reduction OF more than
3,OOO,OO acres. result which, If true.
Will be worth many millions OF dollars o
cotton z! overs
A third statement of the Missouri Sen
ator was that in one OF the monthly re-
ports OF 1851, 4 undertook TO say that
t1e taritf was necessary in order to ex-
clude foreign agricultural products COM
Y INTO competition with Llh0se OF the
United States" IL is only necessary TO
say that at the date mentioned | was not
statistlcian of the Department OF Agri-
culture, or III connection with il in any
way Whatever.
In his further remarks he SAYS: ''Wbas
right has he TO say that there is an over
production OF 100000 bales of cotton a
yearE No such statement was made i'm
the March report, or in any report ever
made slBce the creation OF the Depart-
ment OF Agriculture. That figure is dis
tlnctly given as the approximai G accumu-
lation OF two years III the general aud
primary markets of the word. as shown
In commercial records open To all intelli
gent readers.
The senator from Minnesota states
that during the past three years, with
Two or three exceptions these reports
have had the effect OF depreciatinv the
value OF farm produces. Other Influences
may depreciate the value of these prod
ucts, but "A true presentation of crop con-
ditiuns never. The reports are uniformly
conservative, more frequently underes IL
mating than overestiualiug crop prod
ucts, as shown by records OF production
aud iii stributiou. The state statistics of
North Dakota made the wheat crop more
tnan that OF tue department by ten mil
lion bushes, and those of South Dakota
were also IN excess If our es Innate for
that state.
That spectators, and not the Depart-
ment Of Agriculture, are the cause OF re-
duction ia prices, was convincingly ex-
empll1ed In the reception of the April
report, when condition or wheat was re-
ported at 81, the previous estimate being
-, tending TO advance of prices, which
Immediately followed, until the bear oo-
orators got in their work, and hammered
down prices several points before the c ose
OF tue day. The influence of speculation
Is thus frequently mistaken for that of
the crop report.