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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1901)
The Conservative. person , by warrant on the county treasurer , a sum of money , amounting to three dollars and thirty-three cents per acre , for each acre so planted and cultivated annually , so long as the same is planted and kept growing and in a proper state of cultivation , for a period not to exceed the space of five years , and to an extent not to exceed throe acres of land. "Sec. 11. It shall be the duty of the assessor of each precinct to make proper examination , and report to the county commissioners at the time of his annual report , the condition of all timber so planted and cultivated under the pro visions of this act. "Premiums. The State Board of Agriculture gives premiums annually as follows : For the greatest number of trees planted on Arbor Day , to include fruit , forest , evergreen , and all varieties $50 Second best 25 Greatest number hard wood 25 Greatest number cutting 10 "A large proportion of the schools in the state annually observe 'Arbor Day' by planting trees , shrubs , vines , and flowers. Much of it is 'memorial' plant ing , accompanied with interesting literary exercises. "Statistics show there have been planted in Nebraska since Arbor Day was instituted 855,229,919 forest trees , fruit and shade trees , and grape vines in cities and villages. "To show the probable extent of tree planting in Nebraska the spring of 1888 , mention is made of the business of three firms in the state and there are a large number of smaller operators. These three firms had orders for over 10,000- 000 forest tree seedlings. One of the firms had contracts for planting 8,500 000 of forest trees. There are nine U. S. laud districts in Nebraska. In one land district there were known to be 11,000 tree claims , requiring 27,000 trees planted 'to the claim. Say then , there were 99,000 tree claims in the nine dis tricts , multiplied by 27,000 , and we have 2,678,000,000. This gives a rough ap proximation of tree planting in the 'Great American Desert , ' west of the Missouri River the 'New West. ' " SEED AND SHIP SUBSIDIES. The strong opposition developed against the ship subsidy bill , and against the general idea of subsidies by govern ment in favor of one set of taxpayers al the cost of another , has renewed public criticism of the abuses which have arisen in connection with the con gressional free seed distribution , and which , it is believed , have now over shadowed all the beneficial effects which this distribution once possessed. Speak ing today of these two drains on the public purse , the one of long standing , the other thus far only a threat , a man { * . * versed in agricultural pursuits and familiar with the needs of the farmer's calling said : "Mr. Landreth , the secretary of the National Seedsmen's League , has per formed a valuable public service in call ing attention to the inconsistency and abuse of the congressional free seed dis tribntiou business. The relation of this system to the proposed ship-subsidy gift to ship-owners deserves more than pass ing notice. "In the gift of more than a million dollars' worth of seeds at the expense of the people of the whole country , a former laudable object in the dissemi nation of new and valuable varieties of fruits , vegetables and grasses has deteriorated into a system of personal and political favoritism in the distribu tion of common seeds , of the most com monplace type. The injury to the seed merchants and those directly engaged in the seed industry is not by any means the most objectionable feature of this free distribution , but rather the under lying principle , and , in a free govern ment , the always inimical condition of taxing the many for the benefit of the comparatively few.xWhat would be thought of the proposition of an annual appropriation by congress for the pur pose of a free distribution to the favored congressional constituency of a million dollars' worth of lumber or of groceries or of textile fabrics woolen and cotton goods ? "What recognition from press and public would such a scheme receive ? Yet it would hardly be more unreason able and un-American than the present system of seed distribution. The enor mously valuable land grants and special privileges to some of the railroad com panies and the government's favoritism shown the national banks still have a strong hold on public favor , as the com pensating advantages to the nation as a whole in opening up new portions ol the country in the one case , and the uniform system of currency in the other , have been potent factors in dis arming criticism and effective oppo sition to the principle of special favorit ism to private interests involved. "No such counterbalancing advantages obtain in the plan of congressional seed gratis business. It is special legislation pure and simple. It encourages an ever growing tendency to use the public treasury for personal and political ends The system favors governmental 'paternalism' and appeals directly to the unpatriotic impulse of seeking specia favors through legislation at public ex pense. An enlightened public sentiment must sooner or later dispose of this phase of class legislation. "While unlike the ship subsidy scheme in application , the principle involved is apparently much the same. Both dip into the United States treasury to help special persons or interests that , in com mou with the mass of people in other ines of occupation or industry , should help themselves. As has boon repeatedly ) ointed out in the debates in congress and by the press , a largo part of the millions provided by the proposed ship- subsidy measure would soon find its way directly into the treasury of a few great corporations , some of which have already received liberal governmental patronage. The plan of free seed dis tribution does not call for so large an annual outlay by the government as the ship-subsidy bill would entail , but if the one measure is to stand and the other , notwithstanding the widespread oppo sition , be enacted , what logic or con sistency will there be in opposingspecial benefits through legislation to any or all private interests in every trade and in dustry corporation and the so-called trusts included ? " New York Evening Post. SEED GIFTS AND OKEEN GOODS. One of the country postmasters in the district represented by Mr. Gillett ( rep. , Mass. ) deserves to rank as an accom plished satirist. Not long ago Mr. Gillett , wrote asking him for a list of the names of persons in his community who would like to receive a package of the seeds distributed by the department of agriculture. The postmaster replied most courteously , but declined to send a list , saying that it would be a violation of postal regulations , section 462 , for him to do so. On receipt of this sur prising information , Mr. Gillett hastened to hunt up a copy of the postal regula tions , and read the section in question. It cautioned postmasters and other postal employees against making public names , addresses , and similar information mation obtained in the course of their duty , saying that this regulation was necessary "because of the evil brought about by the infraction or relaxation of this rule by postmasters , who have un wittingly assisted and encouraged fraudulent schemes , such as 'green goods. ' " The point struck Mr. Gillett's asso ciates , to whom he related the _ incident , as decidedly novel , And yet , on re flection , they all agreed that the post master's refusal was not without a certain philosophical basis. The seeds are supposed to produce green goods , although , in point of fact , the percentage of failure to do this is said to be rather large. The distribution also resembles the wiles of the bunco-man in the fact that few persons get in the way of seeds exactly what they expect , or get these packages at a time when seeds are most advantageously planted. All things considered , the resemblance between the government gift-seed enterprise and other green-goods schemes seemed to in crease so upon reflection that the post master was finally absolved from all criticism , and Mr. Gillett , who had at firt thought of going out to inquire into his tenure of office , will now compli ment him upoij his discrimination. New York Evening Post.
