The herald., 1895-09-29

secretary OF agriculture ought to be i'm
peached. Moreover they declared that
he would be removed from office. Then
it was that Mr.. Morton was accused OF
making the now historical remark that
his Office could not be abolished any too
quickly to please himself and that ii was
humbug anynow.
You have the reputation, Mr.. Morton,
OF having revolutionized this department
and Of having abolished several useless
bureaus"
Now, that is hardly a fact' said the
secretary. ''The only department which
| can be said to have abolished was the
department of microscopy. This was cal
ried as separate bureau, but was really
doing part OF the work of them all. What
did was to reorganize it and scatter the
employees among tho other branches.
There was no abolition about it,. AS TO
the seed division, that abolished itself.
''Do you know that certain sections are
trying to make campaign argument out
of the abolition of the seed division?'
"Well, now just let them try that
once" said Mr.. Morton. grimly, land
I'll show UP some of the inside facts
about that seed division. I have here
cheek made payable to certain con-
gresham for $50. That is what he got
for selling all the seeds which were ap-
portIoned to him. Another man told
me after the division was abolished that
in one year he bought $1,000 worth OF
seeds. de wodld not .ell mo whom he
bought them from. Those are two sam
pie cases. and there must necessarily be
more like them. The wholesale value
of the seeds which coud be obtained by
any one congressman was nearly 500,
and there were plenty of people willing
to buy them at that price. Then LOOK at
the amount Of stuff which the United
States mails was required to carry. Last
year we sent out through the mails 504
tons OF seeds They all went free and 1T
is hardly TO be wondered at that the post
Office does not pay. AS tor the claim
that the agrculturists and farmers set
high value on these seeds, that is all non
sense. Here proof OF it. The depart
ment last year sent out 9,O0O.0OO pack
ages. With each one was sent card ask
ing that an acknowledgement of the re-
ceipt OF the package should be sent to
this departm ent. We sent out 5000, 900.
mind you. We received just 1000 acknowl-
edgments. That shows how much valu'
the general public puts on what it gets
for nothing"
,'Have you cut down the number of
employees Of the department TO any great
extent?'
''No, don't think there has been any
great difference in that line, but there
has been decided saving of money.
Here are the figures roughly: When l
came into Office, March 1, 1893, the en-
tire number of employees of the depart
ment OF agriculture was 2497. July /,
1893. the number had fallen to 1870. This
was owing to the wedding out of mon
like Sanders and the wind inspectors.
AT the end Of the fiscal year 1894 the de-
partment's strength was 1862. There is
rise this year and the number at tho
end OF the fiscal year 1895 is zoos. This
is owing to the actual growth OF the de-
partment and the fact that a more rigid
inspection of meat has been ordered.
necessitating the employment OF more
inspectors.
"Has there been any comment on the
abolition OF the seed division?"
"There has been considerable COM
ment but very little OF it has been unfa-
vorsble. Agricultural papers throughout
Ihe country seem to think it Is good
thing, and SO do most of the farmers
with whom l have talked"
As to his political aspirations. Mr..
Morton, like all other presidential posi-
biltles, is reticent. He is a favorite in
his own state OF Nebraska with the
throughout the length and breadth of
the land as rigid economist and an
honest man. He is Democrat of the
Democrats, tor he entered the political
field in 1854 as Democrat and has never
thought of changing his faith. Even
Virginia, which favors free silver and
objects to sunfowers becaus they're gold
color, has % kindly regard for Mr.. Nor
ton. This is mainly because he has been
advising people to go to Virginia and
buy farms. Mr.. Morton has discovered
that the land in Virginia is the best in
the country for farming purposes. and
he has backed his opinion by buying
| some of it for himself. This clinched his
| favor with the Virginians, and he was
| invited to go down to Manassas and make
| them speech. He went and won new
| friends.
MI. To- 90
! Norton he makes friends. 1t doesn't
matter who his visitor may ne. Mr.. Nor
| ton has always time to listen and talk,
and he greets every ew-comer like q
long-lost brother. 1t isn't affectation,
| either for in all the years he has been
| in public life he has never altered. The
newspaper men of Washington, who see
| the actors on the four-year stage come
| and 60 look upon the secretary as one
| of hte best sources of news in the CITY,
Moreover, he is practical farmer, and as
| such is regarded as an oracle by the food
producers of the country. OF course he
has his little kinks. He would sooner
write Il sarcastic letter to free-silverte
than draw his salary. and he loves to
make practical examples of silver falla-
cies. One of his lieutsnants. for instance
was a rabid free-silverite. Mr. Morton
waited patiently until the Lieutenant
went away for vacation. When he
came back and asked for his salary Mr..
Morton paid him a sack of silver dollars
that weighed twelve pounds. A few
weeks later he had all the men of the
department who favored free silver paid
| in the metal they fanoied.
| Another of Mr.. Morton's kinks which
| has never yet found an enemy is enshrln-
ed in his motto. plant trees" The
secretary is the originator OF Arbor day,
which obtains as a holiday in forty-two
| states. He has always condemned the
| ruthless deforestaton OF the country,
and it Is noticeable that under his regime
the department of forestry has done more
| do before he came into office. AS prac-
| tical agricuIturist Mr.. Morton has con-
| tributed largely to the best literature on
| these subjects. lie is not practical
miner, but his contributions to literature
| on the subject OF silver have been quite
| as much commented upon as his agricul-
tural writings.
| Although he was born In New York
| and makes his home in Nebraska City,
Mr.. Morton in sense belongs to Chioa-
| 60. In the old days he was one of the
editorial writer's OH the Chicago Times
AMI can tell as much of the Chicago of
years ago as any old settler. He must
long ago have lost track OF the number
| of men he knows. Take 1T from coast to
coast, and in every town you will find at
| least three men who are personal friends
of Secretary Morton. Most of them seem
to write to him, and the mail of tn Sec
rotary OF agriculture is a thing to see.
In American history he can go long
way back for his ancestors, for they came
| followed the Mayflower. One of them,
| Natbanial hacnma secratarv NJ tho firsr