The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-09-23

No. ia ,ho management OF the State
Department of Agriculture by the re
,,tlico-F ,,cion administration. They took
charge of q well-equipped, Wcli-ofgahiZe"
deuartment which ranked hfSl III III"
South (and equal TO the best in the NoFIl
and Wtst), in the character o. us 9ciei-
tihc work and in general usefulness to
the farmers IN the State. They dismissed
= corps of efficiently trained workers and
substituted inexperienced ana lhcolhp"-
tent help. and officers who had neither
energy or Information (unless Col. James
Waning of color. who had q place OF
chief INSPECTOR made for him, ana an
der whom tue othcr fifteen white lhspec-
tors" worked, may be excepted as the
leading intellectual force employed by
that incompetent gangD IN It's TWO years
Of misrule no new work was uldertaheh,
because no one understood what had Deen
previously accomplished, and the regular
work was so crudely done as TO be OF no
value; so the department Tell from IT'S
lofty Mace at the top Of the column Of
accurate and reliable scientific workers.
TO the bottom of the scale. They issued
no literature of value to the farmers and
gave only stone" to the toilers who ask
cd for the bread" of the best agricuI-
uraI thought of the land. They could
not answer with proper Information any
inquiry on any subject, so that FARMERS
could not consult them.
They were extravagant in the extreme
in salaries and fees. boarding the farm
ers' fund for paying salaries to members
of its board-called commissioners-some
of whom acted as quasi-fertilZer lnspec-
tors. and to pay committees for the per
formance OF the most trivial duties.
They employed some sixteen or seven
teen "inspectOrs,' with Jim Young as
chief inspector" The Democratic board
employs only half as many for about
three and a half months in the year, and
gets q better and more intelligent ser
vice.
BY reference to our files, which gave at
the time q history of the extravaganza
and Incompetence of the retiring Repub-
lico-Fusion administration. it will be
seen that the incoming Democratic ad-
ministration exposed and remcdied the
reckless and cXtraVagant dOingS of the
retiring Republicans. They knew that it
would come to the light and in their i'm
potency they even barred and locked the
doors of the buildings to prevent the
newly elected Democrats from having &C
cess TO the building and books; but the
'unterrifed" entered all the same and
here is a part of the report of the Demo-
cratic Finance Committee made just after
taking possession of this m~ismanaged
departments:
The committee feels obliged to report
that the accounts as presented by the
secretary for paymen are not at all
satisfactory because Of the failure to in
sert itemized statements for the moneys
drawn. This omission was noted in the
accounts of the commissioner. Of the
secretary and of the inspectors. This is
unbusiness-like carelessness, and a fault
which can not be passed over without
serious rebuke. Secretary Ramsey says
hat he has the itemized receipts for
most of the warrants and that he will
insert the same at once. and while this
is satisfactory when done, yet it does
not excuse the carelessness of having
permitted it. (See exhibit 40
Your committee desires to further re-
port that moneys have been drawn from
the Treasury without warrant of law
notably in the payments of the per diem
and expenses Of John Brady and R. B
Lineberry, two ex-members of the Boart
of Agriculture, who We're called TO Raj
eigh and paid for service without {
shadow of legal claim. The committee
regard this a most fragrant breach o
trust, which is Jointly chargeable to the
minority members of the board and tn
secretary. The committee
hat the persons thus illegally and wrong
fully paid be notified of the fact am
given an opportunity to refund the none,
Wrongfully drawn from the funds of tn,
Agricultural Department; or in their fail
ure to do so, 10 suggest to the minorit.
members the propriety of their replacin,
the sums thus Wrongfully withdraw
from the State Treasury. (See exhibi
BID
Your committee also finds that tn
minority members of the board, who me
without warrant of law on or about tn
24th day of April. 1899, and refused en-
trance to the majority of the board, no
only usurped the functions of the Who'll
body, but paid themselves at a rate no
recognized in the Act of 1899. now gov
erning the board, and in excess of tn
legal fees set forth in the Act of 1889
under which they formerly acted, bu
which was repealed by the Assembly O
1899, and therefore wrongfully and lille
gally paid. (See exhibit c. And b
examination, your committee finds tha
the payments to themselves of this ex
cessive, and as we believe. unauthorize
rate, began at the June meeting of 1879
and has resulted in the withdrawal c
nearly one thousand dollars during til
time. Your committee desires to go o
record as protesting against this unau
thorized and illegal use of the depart
ment's funds, and especially in the case
OF those resident in this city. In plai
words, this excess really amounts t
collecting a per diem of $50 six dollar
instead of the four dollars provided b
law. the two dollars extra being a clail
for board. (See exhibit Do
Your committee also finds that th
board has been guilty of distributing il
patronage among its own members, j
other words employing themselves t
perform the delicate and accurate wor
required in the proper conduct of til
great mission of the Agricultural Depart
meht-tne protection of the farme
against fraud in the purchase of CONNER
clal fertilizers. By employing themselye
as clerks and inspectors they hamne