The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1902-02-20


cal Inspector. II the local inspectors
need instructions, they can be furnish
ed by a few hours visit to the capitol,
where the commissioner and chemist
can fully inform them as to their du-
ties With the large force OF over sixty
oil Inspectors and this superfiuous app
pointee, the state oil inspector, is it not
strange that the quality Of our burn
ing oils should be so ilagrantlv and SC
generally unsatisfactory? From Macon
alone there were ) 800 complaints, and
from all over the State the cry goes up
BY the efforts and at the instance Of
Mr.. Stevens, q new oil law was passed
soon after his in
A Comparison Of duction into Of
the Oil Saws Gn- flee. By the pro-
der Nesbi.t and visions of this oil
Under Stevens law state oil in
%------- spector was ap-
pointed and the flash test was reduced
from 100 degrees in an open tester to
100 degrees in a closed tester. 1t was
also provided that al oil which had
stood the 100 degrees test, the lowest
grade allowed on the market, should be
branded simply approved" by the in
spector and allowed TO 60 on sale.
| was repeatedly urged by the repre-
sentatives of the oil companies to use
my influence to establish some such
change in the law, but always refused
because of its injustice to the consum
er and the large latitude allowed the oil
companies. ] required the barrels to
be marked according to the test-120,
l3C, 140 degrees, and so on, that the con-
sumner might know exactly what he paid
for. Different grades of oil were sold,
the price regulated by the quality To-
day the State is flooded with thousands
of gallons of low-grade oil, all branded
approved" and commanding the high
est price. The Gil companies have been
quick 10 take advantage of the gap so
invtingly left open and are reaping
rich harvest. Where is the protection
against such M outrage which the peO-
pie have a right to expect, and which it
is the sworn duty OF the Commissioner
of Agriculture to render? The State at
large is paying hundreds Of thousands
of dollars more than the oil is worth
Elsewhere oil was never cheaper or
more abundant. In Georgia one has to
pay the-same price for oil to run his en-
CINE or to burn in his reading lamp
A comparison publications is large
ly in favor of the Nesbitt administra-
y-------- ton. BY strict
Comparison OF economy in the
Publications. use of the $l0,-
----% COO appropriation
| was able to apply that money directly
for the benefit of the farmers in the
publications. mentioned elsewhere.
Beyond an occasional letter, the fer
tilizer bulletins and book recently is
sued, prepared by the Professor Derry,
the eminent scientist and scholar, we
find nothing in the way of publications.
No details of the work of the depart
ment, no data as to inspectors A neigh
Dor of mine recently wrote to the de-
partment, asking for this information,
and received in reply one of Prof. Der
RVS books, Georgia Historical and In
dusJrial !"
Sometime since | had occasion to in
quire as to the number of inspectors,
etc, on duty, but it was impossible to
obtain this information. | was told by
one of the clerks in the agricultural de-
partment that the Commissioner did not
consider it good politics" to publish
these names Why does the Commits
sioner Of Agriculture withhold this in
4pt l4iGblOll lltII OllC DODIlCs Liz pew
pie wish to know how their money is
spent and also what work the Commits
sioner has accomplished in bringing the
department nearer in touch with the
farmers Of Georgia? The only reform"
that we have any knowledge of is the
new oil law, which seems to have failed
of it's object!
An investigation of the amount paid
by the present commissioner for clerk
3.-------------}. hire will demon
Difference in strate that, in
Clerk Hire. two, years, he
-----'' has spent over
six thousand dollars more in this item
alone than in the same period of my adj
mlnistration. Yours very truly,
r. T. NEsBITr.
u ~