The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-07

eases, are so unduly high as to suggest that the exceptional wholesomeness of Washingtons better sections is offset by bad conditions in her poorer neighbor- hoods. special commission on hous- ing and health conditions in the national eapital' would mol only bring about the reformation of existing evils, but would also formulate an appropriate building code to protect the city from mammoth brick tenements and other evils which threaten to develop here as they have in other cities. That the nations capital should be made model for other muni- cipalities is an ideal which appeals to all patriotic citizens everywhere, and such special commission might map out and organize the city's future development in lines of civic social service, just as Major l. Enfant and the recent park com mission planned the arrangement of her streets and parks.
 It Is mortifying to remember that Washington has no compulsory school at tendance law and that careful inquiries indicate the habituai absence from school of some 20 per cent of all children be- tween the ages of eight and fourteen. It must be evident to all who consider the problems of neglected child life or the benefits of compulsory education In other cities that one of the most urgent needs of the national capital Is law requir- ing the school attendance of all children this law to be enforced by attendance agents directed by the board of educa- ton.
 Public playgrounds are necessary means for the development of wholesome citizenship in modern cities. It Is impor- tant that the work inaugurated here through voluntary efforts should be taken up and extended through congressional appropriation of funds sufficient to equip and maintain numerous convenient small play grounds upon land which can be se- cured with out purchase or rental. It IS also desirable that small vacant places be purchased and reserved as small-park play grounds in densely settled sections of the city which now have no public open spaces and are destined soon to be built up solidly. All these needs should be met immediately. To meet them would entail expenses; but a correspond Ing saving could be made by stopping the building of streets and levelling of ground for purposes largely speculative in outlying parts of the city.
 There are certain offenders, whose criminality takes the shape of brutality and cruelty towards the weak who need a special type of punishment The wife beater, for example, Is inadequately pun ished by imprisonment; for Imprisonment may often mean nothing to him, while 1t may cause hunger and want to the wife and children who have been the victims of his brutality. Probably some form of corporal punishment would be the most adequate way of meeting this kind of crime.
 AGRICULTURE.
 The department of agriculture has grown into an educational institution with a faculty of two thousand special ists making research into all the sciences of production. The congress appropriates, directly and indirectly, six millions of dollars annually to carry on this work. It reaches every state and territory in the union and the islands of the sea late ly come under our flag. Cooperation is had with the state experiment stations, and with many other institutions and in- dividuals The world is carefully searched for new varieties of grains, fruits, grasses, vegetables. trees and shrubs, suitable to various localities in our coun- try, and marked benefit to our producers has resulted.
 The activities of our age in lines of re- search have reached the tillers of the soil and inspired them with ambition to know more of the principles that govern | the forces of nature with which they have to deal. Nearly half of the people of this country devote their energies to growing things from the soil. Until a re- cent date little has been done to prepare these millions for their life work In most lines of human activity college trained men are the leaders. The farmer had no opportunity for special training until the congress made provision for 1t forty years ago. During these years progress has been made and teachers have been prepared. Over nye thousand students are in attendance at our state ae er~f1 ernment expends ten millions of dollars annually toward this education and for research in Washington and in the sev- eral states and territories The depart ment of agriculture has gwen facilities for postgraduate work to five hundred young men during the last seven years, preparing them for advanced lines of work in the department and in the state institutions.
 The facts concerning meteorology and its relations to plant and animal life are being systematically inquired into. Tenn perature and moisture are controlling fac tors in all agricultural operations The seasons of the cyclones of the Caribbean Sea and their paths are being forecasted with increasing accuracy. The cold winds that come from the north are anticipated and their times and intensity told to farmers, gardeners, and fruiters in all southern localities.
 We sell two hundred and fifty million dollars worth of animals and animal products to foreign countries every year, in addition to supplying our own people more cheaply and abundanty than any other nation is able to provide for its people. Successful manufacturing depends primarily on cheap food which accounts to considerable extent for our growth in this direction. The department of ag- riculture, by careful inspection of meats guards the health of our people and gives clean bills of health to deserving exports {; it Is prepared to deal promptly with inn ported diseases of animals. and maintain the excellence of our >flocks and herds in this respect. There should be an an nual census of the live stock of the na- tion.
 We sell abroad about six hundred mill lion dollars worth of plants and their products every year. Strenuous efforts are being made to import from foreign countries such grains as are suitable to our varying localities. Seven years ago we bought three-fourths of cur rice by helping the rice growers on the gulf coast to secure seeds from the Orient suited to their conditions, and by giving them adequate protection, they now sup ply home demand and export to the is- lands of the Caribbean Sea and to other rice growing countries. Wheat and other grains have been imported from light rainfall countries to our islands in the west and southwest that have not grown crops because of light ureciDtation re-