Arizona republican., 1906-12-24
cred in rented buildings.

tered m rented buildings.
 The bill of Senator Hepburn pro- poses to remedy all these defects. and at the same time render the capital
 of the great republic the most attIac- | tive city in the world. The National Museum. the Smithsonian Instiiutt and the Agricultural Department are located in beautiful gi ounds. as Is tn" Bureau of Printing and Engraving and south of Pennsylvania avenue. between that great thoroughfare and the Po- tomac river. Senator Hepburn proposes that the government purchase all the ground south of the avenue. throw ir
 into one great park that can be beau tified without limit. and then. in appro- priate parts. erect all buildings the
 government will need. It certainly is a good pian and will some time be carried out. It is argued that to pur-
 chase the ground now will be a matter of great economy, as the property is
 constantly increasing in value. and as
 it is imperative to erect some of the
 buildings in the very near future, it Is argued that the government shoulG secure the ground for all that will b. needed at any time in the future.
 The fight in the house over "free
 seeds" promises to be more lively this
 year than ever before. which is saying
 much. So welded are certain mem
 bers to their quota of pumpkin and
 turnip seeds that they are willing to
 go to any extreme to preserve them.
 They must be valuable to certain mem
 bers whose constituents would never
 otherwise hear of them. Representa-
 tive Davis, of Minnesota, a member Of
 the house committee on agriculture. at a hearing of the free seed question.
 stated that it was his practice to buy,
 in and about the corridors of the cap
 itol, large quantities of free seeds
 which he distributed through his dis trict. The members eagerly question ed him as 10 how much he paid for them, and from whom he purchased
 them. From young men in the capi- tol who have them to sell" he replied. His method Of distributing them to
 postmasters and to county chairmep. who give them away to any one who applies. Chairman Wadsworth raised laugh by asking if the postmasters relished the job.
 It was brought out clearly at the hearing that the seedsmen and farmers and the Department of Agriculture are working in accord on the free seed proposition in that they favored the work of the Department in distribut
 ing new. rare and valuable seed. but deplored the government throwing away corn, peas, beans. turnip and squash seed. An attempt was made by several members to show that the hostility of the press, both daily ana agricultural, toward the pumpkin seed distribution, was due to the pressure brought to bear on the editors by ad- Vertisers among seedsmen. As moro than one thousand of the daily papers have condemned the squash seed dis tributiOn as a petty graft. the insinua- tiOn that the editors had been infiuen- ced by business office considerations was very grave one. The fact that because the newspapers oppose this cheapest of all perquisites of mem Der of congress should lead to the open insinuation that all the editors were actuated by unworthy motives. pre- sents a very serious proposition. Just how far certain Of the members Of congress are prepared to press this charge remains to be seen. especially : in view of the fact that most of tne newspapers that have been most hos tile to the prize penny" package 1 scheme carry no seed advertising. It is to be hoped that the press needs no defense against such insinuations, ! which are unworthy of any member Of l congress. except those intent on pre- serving the system by which they dis { tribute 40,0OO.0OO packages of common ! garden seed free each year to a more | or less grateful constituency.