Evening star., 1932-04-21

I'D his mind which, and at once dart
back to the white pine trees to do
their deadly work. The bud OF the
currant bushes said the Senator, or
the sap of the currant seems TO
strengthen their boring qualities, and
they bore through the pine little bit.
I do not know to what extent they
may bore into the pine trees.
II showed this esoteric bit OF natural
history to a scientist in the Department
of Agriculture He was aghast at the
extent and novelty of the Senator
revelations in the field of biology. After
he had recovered sufficiently he told
me the Senator's statement was accu-
rate except for such minor details as
these: White-pine blister rust Is not
bug. moth or fly; it is fungus disease.
y does not bore into the pine tree, but
acts on a tree Just like germ disease
does on a man. AS much as we all ad-
nire the Senator and his uncanny
ability to confuse insects with diseases,
bushes with trees and facts with fancies,
we in the department suspect that
the mirror he has held up to us is
cracked.
Love Life Of Bullfrog.
Another hot one which originated
on the floor of the Senate and has
spread from New York to the Golden
Gate is that merry gibe at the Depart
ment of Agriculture about the love
life of a bullfrog' 1t is such rip
rarin'' good one that it is pity to
spoil it. The cold facts, however, are:
a. No bulletin of that name was ever
issued by any governmental department.
"2. No bulletin dealing with frogs,
their lives, legs or loves has ever been
published by the Department of Agri-
culture.
"3. In spite of the fact that the origi-
nal gag isn't true, there is good one
in the yarn which must let you in on.
"(a) The gag was originated by Demo-
Gratis to show how silly the Republicans
are.
''(b) The only basis for it is bulletin
entitled Frogs" which was published
in 1919 by the then Democratic ad-
ministration of the Department of
Commerce.
"(c) The Democrats not only paid the
expense of printing and circulating the
bulletin, but they paid Cornell pro-
fessor 81 700 for writing the manuscript.
"All of which shows once more the
desirability of examining the mirror
before you ask the other fellow to look
into it.
Another mirror into which we, in the
Department of Agriculture, are contin-
ually gazing is chart with which an
ominous and altitudinous curve shows
that the expenditures of the depart
ment have jumped from $30,000,O 900 in
1917 to 100000, 900 in 1881. No expla-
nation accompanies the chart. Conse-
quently, two conclusions are immedi-
ately drawn. One, that in fourteen
years the low-browed bureau chiefs of
the department have expanded their
baleful activities by 10; two, that from
the work of these bureaucrats no bene-
fits whatever have resulted. One genial
editor, in recent speech, charged us
with being racketeers. This criticism
would have been passed over as mild
and reasonable, except for the fact that
the editor resides in Chicago. and spoke
with that authority
I enter no defense for governmental
extravaganza. Projects which take
money may be highly desirable in pros
perity and highly undesirable at other
times Consequently, 1 connived with
the President to lop off from the ap-
preparations for the Agricultural De-
partment all that could be Topped off
and still carry on the duties with which
We are charged under the law. Con-
gress can take more, because by so
doing they will relieve us of our obli-
cations under the law. They have our
blessing. They can take more if they
choose. There will be no yelp from me.
Our duties are whatever Congress
makes them and, be our appropriations
little or still less, we of the department
Will click our heels and obey orders.
But before the department, the chief
officers and myself are held up to the
country as having expanded our opera
tions 10 times, let us analyZe that chart
a little.
One hundred and seventy-four mil
lion dollars of that $500 100000 was
spent for Federal highways in 1881 ;
none in 1918. 1t served to furnish en-
ployment for thousands of people. Do
you want to cut that off?
Fifty million dollars went to farmers
in the form of drought relief eans.
Fourteen million dollars went direct
to the several States for experiment sta
tions, extension services and forest fire
prevention.
These three items aggregate $685.
100000 Of the 5000, 900 charged to
us in 1881. The funds were not appro-
priated because heavy-jawed bureau
chiefs demanded them. The States
wanted roads and crop production loans
and experiment stations, and Congress
provided the money. We were merely
the channel through which the money