Henderson daily dispatch., 1939-01-18
MerchantsAnd
Farmers Clash
On Seed Bill
Daily Dispatch Bureau,
In the Sir Walter Hotel
BY G.. LYNN NISBET.


Raleigh. Jan. 18.- Whether the
North Carolina pure seed law shall be.
written for the benefit OF the farm
ers of the State or for the small mer-
chants, is the question to which the
continuing committee scrap has come
The Page-Underwood bill. reducing
the seed dealers license from $40 to
one dollar, remains, after ten days
discussion, argument and committee
striving after solution, the most both
ersome single issue which the legisla-
ture has faced.
Representative Page has come
long way toward compromise and has
accepted two sub committee reports
Other die-hard opponents of the. ten
lollar dealer tax. led by Withrow of
Rutherford, Taylor of Caswell and
Boswood of Currituck, have found all
of the compromise suggestions almost
as Objectionable as the original bill.
The burden of their plant is that
The merchants are already overtaxed,
and that they cannot stand the sic
levy. One of the principal points at
dispute at the present stage of the,
discussion, is how to handle the situa-
| Try merchant for other merchandise.
| The present law places such seeds un-.
/ der the same license provisions as
those bought from wholesalers. The
wTaylor-Boswood group de-
nand that seed bartered to a local
merchant by the grower be exempt
ed.
| On the other side of the issue stand
the officials of the Department OF
Agriculture, whose position is ably
supported on the committee by
Everett Of Halifax, and Blalock of
Anson. They profess some sympathy
for the merchant, but their first love
is the interest of the farmer, in see
ing that he gets good seed. And they
contend that there is no hope for the
farmer to get seed in which he can
put full confidence unless the see!
laboratory in the department is kept
to its present standard of efficiency.
Maintenance of the laboratory costs
around $4,000 a year. The 1887 seed
license law produces just about that
much. Reducation of the license. with
out unexpected increase in number
IF dealers, would hurt. Proposals to
get seed inspection and testing money
from the general fund met sidicule
rom those members of the COMMITTEES
10 also are members of apprOpria-
ions committee.
Another conflict of interests is be-
ween turnip seed and wheat. Repra-
entatives from the eastern truck
rowing area got amendments by III,
| ub committee exempting small bulk
soil u:
| iiately the grain county men demand
| like treatment for wheat, rye soy
;cans, lespedeza, etc. That busted up
ne pretty substitute bill which was
LII typed and ready for adoption. T.
vas claimed by department seed spe-
| :ialists that if field seeds were. ex-
.mpted and merchants were permit
| Ted to sell without restrictions the
| seed for which they had exchanged
| ,ther merchandise to the grower, that
he seed laboratory had just as well be
ocked UP and North Carolina adver-
tised to the world as the happy dump
| ng ground for poor seeds which can
lot be sold in many other states.
After the third substitute bill OF
he subcommittee has been discarded
| yesterday, all members of the COM
mittee (Abernathy. Everett Blalock,
Page and Moore of Pitt) asked to be
| relieved of further service, or to, DO
instructed as to what sort of bill was
| desired. The answer was to add two
of the chief protestants, Taylor of
Caswell and Graham of Robson, and
this enlarged subcommittee is at
work on what they hope will be All
acceptable bill when reported tomor-
row to the full committee.
/ Meantime, several members of the
i Senate Agricultural Committee say
/ that the House boys are having fun
for their trouble, that the Senate isn't
going to tolerate much change in the
1887 seed law.