Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1912-08-23
BILLS COMP AIRED.
Page Versus Lever Vocational
Education Measures.
Professor T. c. Atkeson, Overseer of
tho National Grange, Gives a Brief
History Of These Two Measures and
Points Out Certain DissimiIarities.

foInt8 Out certain DIS6InnIlarItt06.
Especial Correspondence
There seems to have grown up in the
public mind a good deal Of confusion
as to the different Lever bills" now
pending IN congress. For a number of
years in each session of congress one
or more bills providing for vocational
education in some form have been in
troduced by congressman or senators.
The whole proposition seems to have
been put into best form up to that
time in the bill introduced in the SEN
ate by Senator Dolliver of Iowa, whose
untimely death was a severe blow to
the measure.
Early in the present session of con-
gress Senator Carroll S. Page Of Yer
mont, taking the Dolliver bill as a
basis, prepared bill and introduced 1t
In the senate, which has since been
known as senate bill No. 3, or the
page bill" This bill went to the COM
mittee on agriculture and forestry, of
which Senator Page is a member, and
after many hearings, some Of which
the writer attended, the blu was
amended in the committee and report
ed to the senate with the committees
approval. This is "a bill to cooperate
with the states In encouraging instruc-
ton in agriculture the trades and in
dustries and home economics in Sec
ondary schools; In maintaining instruc-
ton in these vocational subjects in
state normal schools; In maintaining
extension departments in state colleges
Of agriculture and mechanic arts, and
to appropriate money and regulate its
expenditure"
On April IL. 1912, Mr.. Wilson Of
Pennsylvania introduced the Page bill
In congress as house bill No. 23,5S1.
Early in the session Mr.. Lever Of
South Carolina introduced a bill in
congress providing for agricultural ex-
tension only, in about the same terms
as the extension feature of the Page
bill, which has been known as the
Lever bill On Jan. 16 Senator Smith
Of Georgia introduced the Lever ex-
tension bill in the senate as senate bill
No. 4,563. In the title to this bill,
which Is identical with the Lever bill,
1t recites, ito establish agricultural ex-
tension departments in connection with
agricultural colleges in the several
states receiving the benefits of an act
of congress approved July ., 1862, and
Of acts supplementary thereto"
From the farmer standpoint the Le-
yer extension bill is unobjectionable,
the public Is the fact that this Mr..
Lever has attempted to get his lever
under too many things. On Jan. %
this same Mr.. Lever. who Is a South
Carolina lawyer. introduced house bill
No. 1S,493, ''to change the name of
oleomagarne to margarine; to change
the rate of tax on margarine; to pro-
tect the consumers, dealers and manu-.
facturers of margarine against fraud
and to afford the bureau of internal
revenue more efficient means for the
detection of fraud and the collection
of revenues"
Unfortunately this bill is also known
every dairyman and most farmers in
the country, because it reduces the
present tax of 10 cents per pound on
colored oleomargarine to l cent per
pound and permits the coloring in imi-
tation of butter of all oleomargarine
products and tries to make them more
respectable by giving them a new
name. The oleomargarine Lever bill
has been postponed to the next session
of congress, when the battle to the
death will probably be fought out.
The public should, as far as possible,
avoid any confusion of the two Lever
bills.
Now, as to the Page vocational ed
ucation bill and the Lever extension
bill. AS a member Of the national
grange Legislative committee, l have
appeared before committees of con-
gress In favor of both of these meas
ures At the last session of the nR-
ional grange it adopted this resolu
ton:
Resolved, That the national grange
in forty-f1fth annual session assembled
does hereby indorse the Page bill, SEN
ate bill. to provide for vocational edu-
cation in secondary schools, the train
ing of teachers foB these schools, agri
cultural extension and agricultural
demonstration"
The Lever extension bill was not in
existence at the time the national
grange met, so the legislative commit
tee was left TO use lbs own Judgment
as to that matter.
There are a number of considera-
tons connected with the effort DO sub
stitute the Lever extension bill for the
broader and more comprehensive Page
Vocational bill, which we do not now
care to discuss. While we have
pretty clear knowledge of the inside
facts, we know of no reason just now
why we should question the motives