Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-01-22
Georgia $ Vital Interest IN
the Agricultural BUDGET


the Federal agricultural appropria-
ton bill as reported by the House
committee for the coming fiscal year, be-
cause of certain provisions That touch. the
vital economic interests of States like Geor-
gia and her neighbors. 1t should be noted
at the outset that while the measure as now
drafted carries upwards of a million, eight
hundred thousand dollars more than in 1920,
this sum does not represent a real increase
if measured in terms of the great needs to
be served Last year the appropriations rec
commended by those who had given the mat
ter careful study were cut and slashed so
recklessly that the final allowance fel woe
fully short of practical requirements, and
work which ought to have been pressed Wig
orously forward was left to lag NotWlth.
standing this handicap, the department. OF
Agriculture rendered invaluable service, even
in those fields where it's funds were most
stinted But the highest efficiency cannot
make fift-- cents equal to a dollar The blind.
ly penurious policy must not be repeated IL
the basic national interests involved in ag-
riculture are to receive their due.
1t should be observed. moreover, that one
million dollars of the so-called increase is
for the acquisition of additional forest lands
in the Appalachian and White Mountains.
The agricultural Importance of these reser-
vations in conserving moisture and controll-
ing floods, as we'll as in protecting the head
waters of navigable streams, is not to be
overgauged. But with a million dollars of
the pending bill allotted to that purpose.
there remains, for the ordinary activities of
the department., only eight hundred and four
thousand dollars of the increase; and certain
ly that is little enough, the manifold and
ever growing demands upon the department
being considered. The total appropriation
out of which must be financed the Govern
ments every activity in behaIr of the coun-
try's deepest and broadcast material interest
for agriculture is nothing less than that's
only some thirty-three and a half million
dollars, as against more than si1- hundred and
thirteen million for naval expenditures in
the current fiscal year. The program of ma
tional defense to which America was forced
by world conditions during the last five or
six years was prudently conceived, and in the
light of that time represented true economy
But assuredly there Is no less of prepared
ness in the production of corn and wheat and
meat and cotton and wool, those mighty
stats of national life and prosperity, than IN
the building of battleships ana training OF
armies Assuredly the Government can af-
ford to spend the price of cruiser or SO
in promoting that fundamental industry, the
bringing forth of food and raiment, without
which a navy would be no better than drift
wood, and an army no more than cnaIL
If any change is made in the amount OF
the agricultural budget, it should be by way
of increase, not of reduction. The South is
peculiarly concerned because among the items
recommended in the present draft are six
hundred and sixty thousand dollars for the
determination of cattle tick and five hundred
and ten thousand for combating hog chol-
era in this region; sixty-five thousand for
the administration of the Warehouse Act,
which has proved to be invaluable both to
farmer and to mercantile interests, more than
one hundred cotton warehouses having joined
the Federal bonded system, in Georgia alone,
during the last twelvemonth; twenty thou-
sand dollars for developing the experiment
of making syrup from sweet potatoes, man
ifestly feasible and highly promising indus
try: one hundred and sevenry-f1ve Thousand
to enable the department to certify to snip
pers the condition of fruits and vegetables
upon arrival at destinations; and one nun
dred and fifty thousand for the safeguarding
of threatened field crops, particularly COT
ton in the boil weevil zone. But it is not
the South alone that is concerned. not even
in htese special items. The common coun-
trv's interests are involved, vitality involved
Let the budget, then, be passed as 1t Is, or
literally increased.