i' , , , "Jl.iLjMiJik
Conservative.
TIIK SUHSIDY
NEW YORK , Doc. 20 , ' 09.
EDITOR TIIK CONSERVATIVE ,
Nebraska City , Nob.
I wish to call the attention of your
readers to the following resolution
passed unanimously by the National
Grange , at its recent session at Spring-
Held , Ohio :
"Resolved , that while this National
Grange does most heartily desire the
upbuilding of the American merchant
marine , we are emphatically opposed to
the principle of subsidies and believe
desired results can and will be accom
plished without resorting thereto. "
The American Agriculturist of De
cember 9 , which contains a partial re
port of this session , says :
The Grange Against Subsidies anil
Itouiitles.
"Mr. A. H. Smith of New York City ,
secretary of the New York chamber of
commerce , spoke for an hour on the
subject of subsidies and ship building.
Ho desired the grange to indorse the
subsidies bill before congress which
would make an initial appropriation of
$200,000,000 and an annual appropriation
thereafter of 100 to 150 millions. "
The resolution prepared by Mr. Smith
was referred back to the grange by the
committee ou transportation without
recommendation.
Lecturer Messer "then took the floor
and scored hard on many of the features
advocated by Mr. Smith. " After a pro-
louged discussion , participated in by
nearly all the members , the grange
accepted unanimously the substitute
resolution mentioned above.
By this action the petitions or sup
posed petitions from supposed local
granges for we have as yet failed to
get a reply from any of the granges
addressed last October , and in some
cases our letters have been returned
marked "not found" in favor of the
proposed shipping subsidy bill are
rendered worthless , though they will
doubtless continue to be paraded before
congress.
The National Grange is composed of
delegates from the various state granges.
It is the most representative and largest
farmers' organization in this country.
About 1,000 delegates and grange mem
bers were present at the last session.
The strong resolution against subsidies
to shipping was passed only after a long
discussion and after the delegates had
listened for one hour to the agent of the
shipping companies which hope to
pocket the millions of bonus which the
bill proposes to take from the pockets of
the people. This same agent , or some
of the many others in the employ of
these big bounty beggars , has , for a
year , been appearing before all kinds of
farmer , labor and commercial organiza
tions and has attempted to obtain action
favorable to subsidies. Their success
has not been great and has apparently
been greatest where there was least
discussion.
Many of the organizations , which have
endorsed this subsidy scheme , are so
small that they are only reminiscences
of past organizations and some have not
existed for years. At least one which
did endorse the scheme the Horticul
tural Society of Jefferson county ,
Indiana is ashamed of the "snap"
action which was taken.
On December 1C , the American Feder
ation of Labor , at its annual convention
at Detroit , declared almost unanimously
not only against subsidies to ship owners
but against the principle and practice of
subsidy legislation. This action was
taken after .throe hours' vigorous dis
cussion which was participated in by
Mr. Samuel Gompers , president of the
American Federation of Labor , and
other officers of the organization. Re
ports of the meeting say that "lobbyists ,
some of them federal officeholders , who
had been lobbying to secure indorsement
of the Frye subsidy bill , were chagrined
at defeat. "
The extent to which money is being
spent and lobbyists employed by the
shipping people is evident from an inter
view , in the Chicago Chronicle of De
cember 18 , with Mr. T. J. Elderkin ,
vessel dispatcher for the city of Chicago
and ex-general secretary and treasurer
of the International Seamen's Union ,
who had just returned from the Detroit
convention.
He said : "This subsidy deal is the
greatest confidence game ever attempted
in the country. " He said he met the
most active body of lobbyists about the
hotels during his visit that he had ever
found interested in the passage of any
measure. He counted nineteen men
who were there especially to secure the
passage of a resolution favoring the
Hanna-Payne measure , while he was
unable to tell how many of the delegates
were lending their influence under the
roso. The lobbyists were in charge of
R. L. Smith , former editor of a marine
paper. Smith's effortsare ] supplemented
by Richard Powers of the United States
revenue office in Chicago , J. J. Fitz
gerald of Chicago , second grand vice-
president of the Boilermakers' and Iron
Shipbuilders' and W. J. Gilthorpe of
Kansas City , Kan. , grand secretary and
treasurer of the same organization.
Another Fitzgerald , representing the
Toledo , O. , ship yards , is exercising all
his influence in an effort to secure the
passage of this much hoped-for reso
lution.
"What right have these men , who are
paid large salaries by the government ,
to go trotting off to Detroit to work in
the interests of a bill that is recognized
as antagonistic to the best interests of
all ? " demanded Mr. Elderkin. "You
mark my words , congress will pass this
bill because Hanna has the house in his
hand and can do as he pleases with it.
* * * The law will establish a
trust , freight and passenger rates will
remain the same. Where , then , are the
people to derive a benefit ? * * * Of
the many attempts to secure the adop
tion of resolutions favoring this law
only one marine institution , the Lake
Carriers' Association of Cleveland , O. ,
has commended it. That institution ,
by the way , is owned by Mark Hauna
and his brother. "
During the debate President Gompers
said : "This scheme for looting the
treasury of our country is puerile in
conception and wicked in execution. "
The Knights of Labor are reported to
have petitioned for the Hauna-Payue
subsidy bill. We believe that if this
honorable body will reconsider it will
find that the welfare of the people who
have to pay subsidies will not be promoted
meted by such a measure.
The Tariff Reform Committee is in
vestigating the action taken by the
various organizations and will present
the results to congress through senators
and representatives who are opposed to
subsidies. It asks for any information
which will assist it in defeating what it
regards as one of the most palpable and
gigantic steals ever attempted by any
party in power. It asks such farmer ,
labor , commercial and other organiza
tions as have petitioned in favor of sub
sidies to reconsider their actions and
requests all other organizations to at
once petition congress not to pass the
subsidy bill now before it.
We shall , with pleasure , answer any
questions or supply any information in
our possession to any one.
Yours truly ,
BYRON W. HOLT , Secretary.
Ex-Secretary of Agriculture J. Sterl
ing Morton , through his Nebraska news
paper , THE CONSERVATIVE , attacks the
government crop statistics , declaring
that they are almost worthless. The
reason for this , according to Mr. Morton ,
is that the persons who report crop
averages , of whom there are supposed
to be four in each county in every state ,
are not paid for their services and consequently
quently most of them are either careless
in their work or fail entirely to perform
it. As a result of this poorly arranged
system , these reports have often proved
unreliable , and , if Mr. Morton may be
believed , "they have cost the American
farmers in the last quarter of a century
one hundred millions of dollars through
the fluctuations and depressions of the
grain markets which they have caused. "
This is a matter which seems to be
worthy of serious investigation , because
it is much worse than having no reports
at all to have erroneous ones put forth
under the sanction of the government.
Secretary Wilson ought to bo asked testate
state how much truth there is in the
charge brought against the reports by
his predecessor in office. Oakland
( Calif. ) Enquirer.