The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1907-12-04

The committee has made very satisfac-
tory progress. Antiquated practices and
bureaucratic ways have been abolished,
and a general ton of departmental
methods has been inaugurated All that
can be done by Executive order has al
ready been accomplished or will be put
into effect in the near future. The work
OF the main committee and it's several as
sistant committees has produced a whole
some awakening on the part of the great
body of officers and employees engaged
in Government work In nearly every
Department and Office there has been
careful elf-inspection for the purpose of
remedying any defects before they could
be made the subject of adverse criticism.
This has led individuals to wider study
of the work on which they We're engaged,
and this study has resulted in increasing
their efficiency in their respective lines of
work. There are recommendations of
special Importance from the committee
on the subject of personnel and the clas-
sification of salaries which will require
legislative action before they can be put
into effect. 1t is my intention to submit
to the Congress in the near future a
special message on those subjects.
Corporation Contributions
to Campaign Expenses.
Under our form of government voting
is not merely a right but a duty and,
moreover. fundamental and necessary
duty if a man is to be good citizen.
1T is well to provide that corporations
shall not contribute to Presidential or
National campaigns. and Furthermore to
provide for the publication of both con-
tFibutions and expenditures. There is,
however, always danger in laws of this
kind, which from their very nature are
difficult of enforcement; the danger being
lest they be obeyed only by the honest,
and disobeyed by the INSCRIPTIONS, so
n To ut 1lts L.
men. Moreover, no such law would ham
per an INSCRIPTIONS man of unlimited
means from buying his own way into of
nee. There is very radical eaSure
which would, l believe, work a substan-
tai Improvement in our system of con-
Quoting campaign, although / am we'll
aware that it will take some time for
such proposal as to be willing to con-
slider it's adoption. The need for collect
ing large campaign funds would vanish if
Congress provided an appropriate ton for
the proper and legitimate expenses of
each of the great national parties, an APP
preparation ample enough to meet the
necessity for thorough organiza ton and
machinery. which requires large ex-
penditure of money. Then the stipula-
ton should be made that no party re-
ceiving campisn funds from the Treasury
should accept more than a fixed amount
from any individual subscriber or donor;
and the necessary publicity for receipts
and expenditures could without difficulty
be provided.
There should be National gallery OF
art established in the capital city of this
country. This is important not merely
to the artistic but to the material well
fare of the country; and the people are
to be congratulated on the fact that the
movement To establish such a gallery is
taking definite form under the guidance
OF the Smithsonian Institution So far
from there being tariff on works of
art brought into the country, their i'm
portation should be encouraged in every
way. There have been no sufficient coll
lectons of objects of art by the Govern
ment. and what collections have been ac-
CURED are scattered and are generally
placed in unsuitable and imperfectly
lighted galleries.
The Biological Survey of
Vast Benefit to Nation.
The Biological Survey is quietly work.
ing for the good of our agricultural in
terests. and is an excellent example of a
Government bureau which conducts orig
inal scientific research the findings of
which are of much practical utility For
more than twenty years it has studied
the food habits of birds and mammals
that are injurious or beneficial to agri-
culture, horticulture, and forestry has
distributed illustrated bulletins on the
subject, and has abored to secure legis-
lative protection for the beneficial spe-
cies The cotton boll-weevil, which has
recently overspread the cotton belt of
Texas and is steadily extending it's range
is said to cause an annual loss of about
$3.OOO,00O The Biological Survey has as
certained and given wide publicity to the
fact that at least 43 kinds of birds prey
upon this destructive insect. 1t has dis
covered that 81 species of birds feed
upon scale-insects-dread enemies of
the fruit grower 1t has shown that
woodpeckerS as q class, by DESTROYING
the larvae of wood boring insects, are so
essential to tree life that it is doubtful
if our forests could exist without them.
1t has shown that cuckoos and orioles
are the natural enemies of the leaf-eat-
ing caterpiars that destroy our shade
and fruit trees; that our quails and
sparrows consume annually hundreds of
tons of seeds of noXiouS weeds; that
hawks and owls as class (eXcepting
the few that kill poultry and game birds)
are markedly beneficial, spending their
lives in catching grasshoppers, mice, and
other pests that prey upon the products
of husbandry. 1t has conducted field en-
periments for the purpose of devising and
perfecting simple methods for holding in
check the hordes of destructive rodents
rats, mice rabbits, gophers prairie
nually destroy crops worth many mil
lions of dollars; and it has published
practical directions for the destruction of
wolves and coyotes on the stock ranges
of the West. resulting during the past
year in an estimated saving of cattle and
sheep valued at upwards of a million
dollars.
1t has inaugurated system of inspec-
ton at the principal ports of entry on
both Atlantic and Pacific coasts by means
of which the introduction of noNious
mammals and birds is prevented thus
keeping out the mongoose and certain
birds which are as much to be dreaded
as the previously introduced English
sparrow and the house rats and mice.
In the interest of game protection it
has cooperated with local officials in ev-
cry State in the Union, has striven to
promote uniform legislation in the sew
eral States, has rendered important serv-
ice in enforcing the Federal law regulat-
ing interstate traffic in game, and has
shown how game protection may be made
to yield large revenue to the State-a
reverb amounting in the case of Illi-
nois to sl2S,000 in single year
The Biological Survey has explored
the faunas and foras of America with
reference to the distribution of animals