Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1920-02-21

Warrington, D. G.. Feb. 1.-THE
time honored congressional custom
Of winning the voters approval by
generous donations Of free seed
hung trembling In the balance this
week when the irrepressibl0 Mr..
B.anton Of Texas. opened ire on
the $s0o, 900 seed item in the agri-
culture appropriation bill.
Tho gentleman from Texas
charged that his honorable coll
leagues were humbugging their
constituents BY sending them the
seed q Z gift, when in reality they
were being paid for by taxes and
tine increased cost Of living.
'sThe farmers Of this country"
tc shouted, would rather have
their taxes cut, than to receive q Is
cent package Of seed. that they
don't want and can't use, from their
senator or congressman"
For 4 few minutes it looked as
though the seeds were doomed, but
when the roll call was taken, at Mr..
Blanton's request, enough votes
were mustered to defeat the amend
n.ent striking the item from the
appropriation bill. The vote stood
$50 to II, some seventy Of Mr..
Blanton's fellow congressman vot-
ing with him, probably for the first
time in their lives.
Colleagues of the Texas con-
gresham declare in rebuttal of his
argument that the farmers are not
the ones most benefited by the seed
distribution, the greater number of
the packages going to the back yard
gardener who can not purchase his
seed in the bulk the farmer finds
necessary, and at the price at which
the farmer is able to obtain them.
They declared that the seeds only
cost the United States government
trifle over three and a half cents
a package, including the cost Of
purchasing them. putting them in
packages and mailing them to var
ious points throughout the coun-
try, excluding only the cost of the
extra clerks the senator or con-
gresham must employ to address
the franks. The same grade Of
seed, if purchased by the gardener
or small farmers would cost him
about Is cents package, and even
then he would not be sure that he
was securing the same grade of
seed furnished by the government.
The seeds, it was stated, are the
best that can be purchased in the
United States, and, before their dis
tribution, are thoroughly tested and
examined by government experts
for their purity and vitality.
Members of the house stated that
not infreQuently the seed is sent
to those, who but for the free dis
tribution Mr.. Blanton objected to,
would not utilize the small amount
of ground at their command, thus
increasing if only in a slight de-
gree the food production of the
country, and reducing the cost of
living for the amateur agriculturist.
! A congressman from the heart of
New York City, where the majority
| of the voters means are extremely
limited, declared that he could use
every package of the $4,000 allotted
to him, and twice that amount if he
could secure it.
Many of my people," he said,
ARE too poor to afford even the IS
| certs to purchase similar seeds, but
when they receive the stuf free are
able to grow the few fresh vege-
tables their tables provide during
the summer, and sometimes are
able to put up few cans for win
ter.
Their contention that it is the
back yard and window box gar
dener who uses the government
seed is borne out by the fact that
the kinds of seeds for which there
are the greatest demands are those
grown in small gardens, such as
PEAS, beans, corn, lettuce and rad
isles. Tomatoes, too, have their
vogue. but are not as popular as the
other five. 1t will be noticed that
OF the five, three are staples and
two are what are known as appe-
TIERS"
The late Tim Sullivan of New
York, once wrote to the head of the
bureau of plant industry, and re-
quested that his entire allotment
be composed Of beans.
my constituents" he said, seem
to like them above all other things,
They must live on beans. Every let
ter l get asks for several packages
and if l sent all that are requested
THE whole city Of New York would
be feasting on beans for the next
five years."
According to the law, each SEN
ator and congressman is allotted
$4,000 packages of vegetable and
1000 of flower seed. but many of
them ask that their flower allot-
ment be changed to vegetables
which is done if the supply at the
bureau Of plant industry will per-
NIT.
| The very few congressman who
do not use their entire allotment