The Green Forest tribune., 1912-12-27

about the boil WeeVt1 business which was destroying the cotton crop, we found a terrible state of affairs. The south was then a one-crop country and if anything happened to that one crop, they were out of business. The negro labor was packing up and mov- ing away. Everybody was scared to death. Well, we did some good work down there to get rid of the boil weevil; but more important than that one thing was what it led to.
 Taught South How to Farm.
 We began the business of teaching the southern farmer how to make the most of his farm. We found a man in each county best fitted to direct this work. He knew where the need was greatest and could drive about from place to place showing his neigh bors what ought to be done The south isn't a one-crop country any more
 Then we saw that there had to be some animals on that land; that we should have to look to the south pretty soon for beef. The homestead CTS were taking up the land of the great western cattle ranches and the ranchmen were beginning to give up. So we tackled the pasture question, and helped the southern farmer about his hogs and cattle.
 Secretary Wilson also talked upon what has been done and what he hopes may be done further in the way of putting demonstrators on the farms in all the states of the Union.
 There are no postgraduate insti- tutions to supplement the agricultural colleges" said he. We have to train our own men in many branches. Con- gress has not permitted us to pay the salaries that would keep them with us in all cases, and these train ed men have sometimes been taken away from us But we keep on train ing 'em just the same. It is the same about road building; the technical in- stitutions turn out civil engineers, but they do not teach them practically how to build roads. We are training road experts. We should like to train half-dozen superintendents for New York state.
 Another thing I like to talk about is what we did to redeem the dry belt west of the tooth meridian. The soil is good, but there is little rain fall. There were great tracts of al- most useless land, given over to half wild, animals. We visited the deserts Of fTo a1d ri 1T, ap lN plants and grain that could be grown in soil like that and learned the ways of cultivating them. Do you know about Durum wheat? We are grow ing 75,000,000 bushels of 1t year now, and last year we exported 30,- 900 ,000 Then we had to have legumes for that land-the plants that take nitrogen from the air and put it in the soil. We sent four times to Asia and Africa in this search. We brought over the yellow -blossomed alfalfa and installed it where it would do the most good"
 Pensions for Ex-Presidents7
 When Andrew Carnegie proposed his plan to pension ex-presidents of the United States at the rate of $25000 year In order that they might take life easier and lend their counsel as private citizens to the lawmakers of the Union, it was strong ly suspected that the Scottish-Ameri- can philanthropist had no thought that the pension plan would be accepted, but that Its suggestion might stir con gress to take action looking to the care of ex-presidents and their fam ilies
 pensions for ex-presidents is an old one, and in many respects, apparently, perfectly proper one, that we should have no civil pension list It has been held that if this country once begins to give pensions to men who have held civil jobs under the government, there will be no end to it, and also that the pension giving might be much abused.
 It always has seemed to be the fear of congressman that some men with a pull or personal popularity who have held some kind of government jobs for awhile might by their influence induce congress to give them pensions. There are some civil pensions granted by the United states, notably those given by special acts of congress to the widows of presidents. AS a rule, however, civil pensions have stopped at this point, and while it seems probable now because of the agitation that some plan may be evolved to pension ex- presidents, probably long time will elapse before anything like plan for general civil pensions will be sanction ed by the congress of the United States.
 Plan Tariff Hearings.
 The Democratic members of the ways and means committee already are mapping out scheme for tariff hearings in order that revision bills as the extra session which is to be call ed by President-elect Wilson opens. It can be said on good authority that the wool schedule will be given first at tention at the hands of the commit tee, and probably will be the first of the tariff bills to be passed by the house in next springs extra session.
 Congress has not been long in ses- sion, and yet already Speaker Champ Clark has broken two gavels by vio- lent use in making attempts to bring representatives to order. There has been no actual disorder in the house, but only an overplus of enthusiasm when popular leaders and popular re- elected members generally have en- tered the chamber. The speaker feels that 1t is his duty to check boisterous
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