Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1919-02-28

| 'hS Shdil Hldu Oh the senate commit
tee on Agriculture Of December II,
1918, and need not be gone over
again here. / have no doubt that
senator Gore would have this letter
printed and distributed if suffici-
ent number of requests are received
Tor it. 1t was printed in full in Farm
Food and Home, January l.
In all, 23 reports on cost of pro-
ducing various farm products were
delivered to Secretary Houston, most
of them on July -, 1918. Several
OF these dealt with the cost of pro-
ducing beef. Included in them were
the results of five years carefully
Kept records, by trained bookkeepers,
covering 141 farm years and the fat
tening of more than $4,000 steers.
One OF the reports on wheat was
based on five years carefully kept
records on large number of farms.
Yet the secretary, in his letter to the
senate, regretted that he could mot
send to the senate dependable data
on the subject of the cost of produc-
ing wheat and other farm pro-
ducts. There is no shadow OF
doubt that it has all along been Sec
rotary Houston's fixed purpose to
prevent the farmers of this country
from benefiting by these investiga-
tons To accomplish this it was
necessary for him, by deliberate mis-
statement of fact, to bring discredit
on the results.
These 23 reports were promptly
plgeon-holed, as l fully expected
them to be. To force them out
appeared before the senate commit
tee on agriculture the last week in
August and gave the facts concern
ing them, together with some of the
results they contained This was the
first publicity given these reports.
Yet the secretary, in his letter to the
senate, states that these reports
were not brought to his attention un-
til after some publicity had been
given them. This statement of the
secretary's does not square with the
facts.
In his determination to prevent
farmers from getting any benefit
from this work the secretary resort
ed to desperate measures | can not
give you the full facts about this mat
ter without exposing honest and hon.
orable men to the fury of this brutal
autocrat, under whom they unfortu-
nately have to serve. | will say,
however, that browbeating and in
timidation were resorted to. I will
also say that the secretary's letter to
the senate deliberately misrepresents
the opinions of the committee of ex-
perts he called in. These facts
could all be brought out fully in an
investigation by an official body au.
thoriZed to summon witnesses and
compel testimony. / have reason tC
believe that congress would make
such an investigation if the farmers
of the country are sufficiently insist
ent in their demands for it.
This opposition of Secretary Hous-
tons to cost Investigations was nc
sudden inspiration. Early in his ad-
ministration there was circulated
through the department typewrit-
ten sheet said to have been written
by member of Mr.. Rockefeller
General Education Board, and which
was said to represent Mr.. Rockefel-
lers views, in which Secretary Hous-
ton concurred This sheet purported
to outline the duties of the depart
ment. 1t stated that the department
should make no investigations that
would reveal the profits made by
farmers, or that would determine the
cost of producing farm products. No
representative of the department
should ever under any circumstances
even intimate that it is possible to
overproduce any farm product. The
entire business of the department
+ was to teach farmers how to produce
more than they now produce. Al
though the entire department has
been working under these orders,
and Mr.. Harrison has made it plain
on several occasions that he desired
these orders carried out, he did not
have the temerity to enforce them
openly | was able, by persistent eff
fort, to push to publication several
bulletins dealing with cost of pro-
duction. More than once | was Sc
verely brought to task for this. Time
and again he told me he disapproyed
of such publications. Any one con-
nected with the Division of Publica-
tions can tell you the difficulties en-
countered by manuscripts submitted