Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1919-04-11
6USLEY ANSWERS
| SP|LLMAN CHARGES

hrought Dy LIZ w - 0piiiHoh
ooinst Secretary of Agriculture
Houston. It is only fair to publish
.ho answer to. the charges which is
onta,ned in the following letter,
rr.tten by Clarence Ousley, assist
NJ Secretary of Agriculture:
nr r. e. Miller, Editor. Southern
.Agriculturist, Nashville, Tenn.
bear Sir:
In YOUR letter of February 26 you
refer to a statement by w. ]. Spill
man and ask whether certain views
which he attributes to the Secretary
81 Agriculture are held by him or not:
or course they are not.
Secretary Houston has declined to
make reply to statements by this
former officer of the Department,
whose recitals and affirmations are
an far from the truth as to amazt
,bose who know the facts. Since you
have been sufficiently impressed by
144 his EIAIeUtGuJo " lll0C di1 tlAullC i
take the liberty of replying to your
letter. | have heard Mr.. Spillman
make public address and | have
he read others he has made concerning
the Secretary and the Department,
and have taken the pains to inform
myself concerning his chief affirma-
tions and insinuations. Insofar as
they impeach the good faith or the
correct department or the intelligent
and sympathetic interest of Secretary
Houston in farm management prob
lens they are false. Mr.. Spillman
seems to have lost the capacity to
distinguish between truth and error
Some of his statements are gross eX-
aggerations, some are insinuations
without evidence, and others appear
to be downright inventions. 1t al
q most seems that Mr.. Spillman has the
mental habit of some children who
imagine dramatic episodes and then
describe them until they believe them
d to be true.
have observed MIR. Spillman's
work here for year and a half, and
| believe l am competent to pass
judgment upon it. l have known
Secretary Houston for Is years or
more; | was associated with him in
educational undertakings in Texas,
and | have been officially and init
mately associated with him as AS
sistant Secretary of Agriculture
since June, 1917. Therefore, l feel
qualified to appraise both his char
acter and his public service. Allow
me to say, in this connection, that !
am under no obligations to the Sec
rotary except the obligations of court
esy and appreciation, because | ac-
cepted appointment under him as a
matter Of duty in order to perform a
war task, and at my request l am
about to be relieved Of my duties III
order to return to Texas. In the
matter about which you inquire, a
Tair-minded man who knows the facts
is compelled to reach the conclusion
that Secretary Houston has been
over-indulgent with Mr.. Spillman's
frailties and shortcomings, and that
Mr.. Spillman, after the manner of
many ambitious and disappointed
men who can not have their way, has
resorted to unworthy methods of re-
venge. Those of Mr. Spillman's
friends and former admirers who
know the facts are shocked at his
misconduct. The Secretary and his
associates, like myself, would have
preferred to let the misrepresenta-
lions pass, but since Mr.. Spillman
persists and is misleading many good
men 1t is proper that make a state
ment of some of the facts which as
you will observe, utterly discredit
Mr.. Spillman's whole contention.
Shall take up some of his leading
statements and make comments on
each.
l. That the Secretary from the
Hrst objected to cost of production
studies, that he said there was moth
ing in such studies, and that farmers
were not entitled to information on
cost of production.
The records of this office show
these statements to be false. From
MS first contract with the Depart
ment, Secretary Houston expressed
MS interest in farm management
studies, including studies of cost of
production. In his annual report for
1914 in discussing the work, the
Secretary said:
The business of the student of
iarm management is to make an an
aiysls OF the operations of the farm,