Omaha daily bee., 1896-11-23
FIGURES FOR THE FARMERS
Secretary j, Sterling Morton Makes His
Annual Report,
TWO MILLIONS SAVED IN FOUR YEARS
Exports of Cattle, sheep and Horses
and Information About Inspection
-Fnrms thnt Arc MortgnEcd-
Agriculture and Prosperity.

! ton, In his fourth annual report just maue
/ public. shows that with $3.50, 900, which may
| be saved from the appropriations for the
current fiscal year, there will have been
| covered back into the treasury since March
! Z, 1898. over s., 900, 900 out of total appro-
priation of $ll. .179, i5j45, That this great
economy was effected without any loss OF
efficiency he attributes in a large degree
to the Improvement in the personnel of the
force under civil service rules, which he
declares to be absolutely Indispensable to
the maintenance Of an economical and eih-
cient administrator of the public service
To complete the already almost perfect sys-
tenn of civil service in his department, the
secretary recommends the appointment OF
a permanent director in charge Of bureaus
and scientific investigations. The chiefs OF
scientific bureaus and their assistants, he
declares, are not adequately compensated
and he strongly recommends that the sala-
ries of this class of employees be Increased
The inspection of animals Intended Tor
food Is treated of at length and stress Is
laid upon the increased efficiency OF the
work due to the extension of civil service
rules, which has been very rapid in this
service The total number Of antemortem
inspections Of cattle, sheep, calves and hcgs
during the year was So 917 ,479, an increase
over the previous year of over 80 per cent
The total number of postmortem inspections
was % 1Gi S5S, an increase OF 20 per cent
The total number OF abattoirs under inspec-
tion in 1896 was 102 in twenty-six cities; In
1892 there were but twenty-eight In twelve
cities For the sake CT economy the exports
OF mcroscopically inspected pork to coun-
tries not eXacting such inspection have been
greatly discouraged. The total amount thus
inspected was in round numbers 23,OOOOOO
pounds of which 2l 100000 pounds went to
,svt,, tfnFn or
were issued to $40 vessels carrying cattle
and sheep. OF cattle there were tagged for
export 3T7 639 and 1872 603 inspected sheep
were exported The percentage OF loss in
transit was considerably less than ever be-
fore.
Mr. Morton urges strongly that govern
ment inspection should be extended to all
animals intended for human focd, whether
for consumption in the United States or
abroad
CATTLE AND SHEEP TO ENGLAND.
The cattle and meat trade of Great
Britain is reviewed at length. OF live meat
arriving in the United Kingdom during
the first six months of 1896, the United
States supplied 75 per cent of the cattle
and 40 per cent Of the sheep The testl-
mony of the department representatives
abroad is that cattle from the United States
arrive in English ports in excellent con
dition. The Glasgow market is especially
commended to American shippers. The re-
port shows steadily increased demand in
England for American horses. During the
first nine months of the present year more
of these animals were shipped to that coun-
try than for any previous entire year.
Reviewing the work of the weather
bureau, special stress is laid upon the
value of the many timely storm warnings
which have been issued by the bureau, ana
have resulted in the protection from less
damage of hundreds of dollars worth of
property to say nothing of the many lives
saved from pending danger An increase
in the percentage OF verifcations Is quoted.
During the year the department issued
376 publications, mainly for gratuitous dis
trbution. The aggregate number of copies
printed was G.561.70O. The publication work
has grown enormously during the past few
years, and Increased appropriations may be
provided but the secretary declares neither
the Department of Agriculture nor the gov
ernment Itself can continue for the next
five years to increase its publications for
gratuitous distribution in the same ratio
as for the past five years without dis
bursting millions of dollars. He protests
against the inclusion in the act of ap-
proprlations for the department for the cur
rent fiscal year OF $S2 500 for reprinting
horse books and cattle books to be given
away by congress.
The secretary again takes occasion to
express his opposition to the gratuitous dis
tribution or seeds, and to express the hope
that the practice will be discontinued.
reviewed at some length. He opposes for
the present the establishment of an agri-
cultural experiment station in Alaska, but
recommends an appropriation of $1,000 for
a preliminary investigation of the agrcul-
tural resources of the territory, The secre
tary suggests some form OF cooperation
between the agricultural colleges and the
Civil Service commission, with view to GER
tifying more readily persons adapted for
employment in the scientific divisions of the
department.
UNINCUMBERED FARMS
The report concludes with comprehen-
sive review of the conditions of the Ameri.
can farmer. Seventy-two pec cent OF the
farms in the United states occupied by
their owners are absolutely free from mor:-
cages or other membranes. The secretary
refutes the idea prevailing that the farms
of the west and south are more heavily
burdened with mortgages than those OF the
east and southeast. States along the Nor;h
Atlantic, he says, are quite heavily incum-
bered with farm mortgages. and New Jersey
carries debt of this kind greater in pro
portion to its farm valuation than any
state in the union. The frequent claim that
the farmers are almost universally in debt
despondent and suffering. he declares TO
be without any foundation, a belittlement
of agriculture and AN indignity to every
intelligent and practical farmer. The farm
ers are not mendicants nor wards of the
government to be treated to annuities, but
the representatives of the Oldest, most honor
able, most essential occupation of the
human race, upon which all other voca-
tions depend for subsistence and prosperity.
Legislation" he says. ''can neither plow
nor plant. The Intelligent, practical and
successful farmer needs no aid from the
government The ignorant impractical and
indolent farmer deserves none 1t is not
the business of the government to legislate
in behalf of any class OF citizens, because
they are engaged In any specific calling, no
matter how essential the calling may be to |
the needs and comforts OF civilization. Law
makers cannot erase the natural laws nor
restrict nor efface the operation of economic
laws. 1t is a benehcent arrangement of the
order of things and the conditions of human
life that legislators are not permitted to
repeal amend or revise the laws of produc- |
tion and distribution"
Referring to the stress OF competition |
which the American farmer Is compelled to
endure, Mr.. Morton calls attention to the |
nearly 100000 OF farms OF eighty acres |
each, given away by the government under |
the homestead act of 1866 during the past |
thirty years, and to the amount donated un-
der the timber culture law, equivalent to |
over $4,000 more farms of the same size |
Lands long titled and rendered partially un-
fertile could not, OF course, enhance in value |
and sell In competition with virgin soil do |
mated by the government. No legislation |
relative TO the public domain has been so |
= H.. 1T