Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 May 1896 — GREAT SEED HUMBUG. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GREAT SEED HUMBUG.

COSTLY TRASH SUPPLIED TO THE FARMERS. Each Recipient of a Free Package Gets Two- thirds of an Ounce, Not Enough to Be Serviceable, and Uncle Sam Pays $165,000 a Year for it. Congressional Extravagance. Washington correspondence:

HUMBUG, thy name is Congress! There never was a better illustration of this fact than the recent controversy L' over the question of Si distributing fr e e St « seeds. Secretary w Morton wanted to put a stop to this ridBjjjiculous abuse, which, 155 in the last twenty j|K years, has cost the Government over $2,580,000; but the krf| Congressmen object|l |*ed because they U' would be deprived

of the privilege of scattering complimentary prize packages among their constituents without cost to themselves. The hollowness of the fraud was strikingly exhibited when, a few weeks ago, Secretary Morton proposed to furnish to each member of Congress 1,000 packages, every one of which should contain one large paper of big peas or corn and fourteen papers of small seeds. This raised a row right away, because the legislators said that 1,000 packages would not gp around among their constituents. They obliged the Secretary to divide the seeds into packages of five papers, so as to give 5,000 to each Congressman. It was made clear to them that the packages of five papers each would be too small to be of any practical use, but that objection was ignored. It was not desired that the seeds should be useful to the farmers and other people, but that they should serve tho political ends of the Congressmen. Accordingly, the order was changed at a cost of about S6OO for the additional number of envelopes employed. Not Enough to Be of Service. The law prescribes that the seeds shall be of “rnre and pneommon varieties.” But the Congressmen will have nothing but ordinary garden and field seeds, ranging from nasturtium and pansy to corn and peas. Each package contains five little papers of seeds, amounting in all to about two-thirds of an ounce, and consisting of two-tenths of an ounce of cabbage seed, two-tenths of an ounce of cucumber seed, three-tenths of an ounce of squash seed, three-tenths of an ounce of turnip seed and less than one-tenth of an ounce of tomato seed.

This is as much as any individual gets from the much-advertised distribution of free seed by Congress. It is for this shat the Government is paying out SBO,OOO this year, without counting the cost of sending the packages by mail. The.cost of such a package to Uncle Sam, including the envelopes and printing, is 3-7 c. The actual expense of delivering it by mail is 4c in addition. For this expenditure the farmer receives a little gift which he could purchase at the country store for from one to three cents. In any such store will usually be found on the counter several boxes of assorted seeds, retailing at from two cents to five cents a paper. They are just as good as those furnished by the Government and the papers are apt to hold about twice as much. $165,000 Wasted Every Year, In evel-y third package of vegetable seeds sent out this year is a paper containing about one-sixth of a piht of peas or corn. Imagine how useful that is likely to be to the farmer. But as has been said, it is not intended to be useful to him; it is designed as a compliment from the Congressman and to please the good wife and the children. The seed contracts enforced by Congress call this year for 10,125,000 papers of seed, costing the Government $75,000, to which must be added $89,000 for postal expenses. In other words, the so-called “free seed” this year will cost the people of the country nearly $105,000, besides injuring the legitimate seed trade to an extent representing an equal amount. The distribution is made in order, as a member of Congress said during the recent discussion, to show the poor toiling farmer at home that Uncle Sam remembers him and desires to assist him in his struggle for existence—to the extent, forsooth! of three-quarters of an ounce of seeds, which he must in the end pay for himself. Congress has increased the appropriation for the seed distribution for next year so as to make possible the purchase of about ttvice as much seed as will be distributed this year. The recent fight in Congress has attracted so much attention to the seed distribution that applications for free seed have greatly increased in number. The distribution of seeds by the Government began in 1839 with the appropriation of SI,OOO, which was given to the patent office for the purpose of collecting and giving away rare and improved varieties. Since that date, with the aid of steadily increasing sums of money furnished by Congress annually, every seed tbdt conld be found anywhere offering a reasonable prospect of usefulness in any part of the country has been purchased and liberally distributed; People all over .the United States have already secured nearly all of the vegetable and field seeds, plants and trees that are adapted to their peculiar soils and climates. It goes without saying that the obtainable number of valuable and uncommon seeds ik limited; Although a request is sent with each package for a report as to the result, not one recipient in 1,000 makes any response.