The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-07-25
COMMISSIONER DINERS RECORD.
STANDS FOIJR-SQ UARE AGAINST.
ATTACKS OF CA2PlNG CRITICS

case; and this, too. in the face OF your
published invitation to your oppo-
neuts to show an instance wherein
you or your department has declined
or failed to render assistance to any
other agricultural agency that wanted
or asked 1t. The burden or proof Ii
upon them. Their proof should have
been presented ere this. Surely they
will not submit anything in the nature
of specifications in the last days OF
the campaign, when It is too late for
you to reply.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES cooperation
is q good thing when 1t Ii honestly
practiced. But the word "co-operate"
may be degraded and made to serve
as a verbal cloak to disguise sinister
scheme or hide an Interior MOTIVE.
We sometimes hear man say that
he ''co-operates'' with So-and-So.
when we know the real fact IL that
one Of them dominates and the other
serves. Dominance and Its opposite,
subserviency, do not constitute CO.
operation In the true sense.
And hence. having knowledge OF
your independence Of character, /
wondered when the United Agricul- |
tural oBard project was brought for |
ward in 1910. with the approval Of
Governor Mann. whether you had not
given offense to the Governor and |
some Of his friends by declining to |
subordinate the dignity of your posi-
ton and the Agricultural Department
Of the State to persons and agencies |
having only secondary interest in
the problems OF the farm. When /
learned later that the bin creating |
the United Board" established Gov
ernor Mann as president and gave
mem bership to other prime favorites |
in officialdom. felt sure you were |
under the displeasure OF the Governor.
"United Board" Peterfng Out
Concerning the United Board lit |
tie need be said. The history Of the |
project in contemporaneous with the |
Mann administration. Pressed by
the Governor in his first year in
office and passed by the Assembly OF
1910. the bill establishing it was
promptly ''denatured' by the succeed |
ing Assembly of 1912. The old State |
Board OF Agriculture and the old ag- |
ricultural college at Blacksburg-the |
two chief agricultural agencies-both |
at their own request. were left off /
the United Board" whose member /
ship ever since has been limited to |
the Governor. the Superintendent OF
Public Instruction and the demonstra- |
ton agents. The 1914 Assembly may |
abolish even what is left Of the /
United Board"
One thing in this campaign that |
ought to arouse indignation Is the un- |
fair manner in which some OF your |
critics have sought to prejudice unin- |
formed voters against you by suppress |
sion Of the facts. For example. in |
their statements concerning the re- |
port of the legislative auditing COM I
mittee Of 1906. above referred to, they |
have never at any time told the voters |
that that report. concerning your de- |
partment. said "It Is a pleasure to |
note that there has not been any |
shortage in this department" Another !
omission of the same sort Is discovered /
In what they have said about MEM |
bership on the United Agricultural
Board" Choosing ouiy that which |
tended TO advance their cause, they |
singled out you alone as having no |
membership on that board. though |
they knew full we'll that neither the |
State Board of Agriculture nor the |
agricultural college had membership /
on II. |
an agricultural trust. In our agri- /
cultural system there Is no place for |
politics. Had the United Board pro- |
tect worked out as some of your enc |
mics hoped 1t would, there would !
have been erected In the Common
wealth a piece of as elaborate and |
skillfully made political machinery |
as Virginia can boast. In defeating |
that bill--for amendments adopted In |
lal2 practically killed i'll believe |
that you and your board and the ag- |
riculturaf college board performed a |
service the value of which even you |
have not fully realized A more pill |
ant parsonage in your position would |
have submitted to the powerful po- |
Httcal influences that were brought to |
bear and have made the best terms
possible.
Department On Sure Flooding.
Politics seems to me to have |
swayed you in the conduct OF your |
department as little as any man |
know in public life. And that our |
agriculture IL on q surer footing and !
that our farmers are more prosperous.
than ever before must. in large part |
be attributed to the quiet, steady, un-
RENTING. conscientious work you
have done for twelve years The |
voter may make an instructive COM |
parison Of your departments nom
political record with the record Of |
our politics-ridden public school sys-
tenn. United States statistics showing
Virginia to be irty-eighth in school
standing In the roll of forty-odd |
States. So much for the dominance |
of politics in the conduct Of public |
affairs.
We elected you to attend to BUSH
ness: you have attended to business, |
and have no doubt the voters Will |
see to ii that your services are re-
tanned. There is only one thing to
fear---ever- effective, skillfully direct
ed organization OF your enemies in |
the large cities. Yet I think a new
day has. begun to dawn in Virginia,
and l believe that Progressive De-
mocracy will sound a note on August
5th that will strike terror to some OF
those who rule over us now. and who
sought vainly to rule you.
As a Democrat OF this kind I wish |
you well.
Very sincerely and truly yours.
ROBERT M, LYNN.