| Show THE FREE SEED GRAFT A convention of fa ers recently passed d a resolution In which congress was requested to abolish the practice of giving away seeds free As the farmers arm rs generally generaH speaking are most benefited by this pernicious little graft It is good to see them come out frank frankly ly against it Nor is it such a little graft raft either for tor it costs the th govern government government government ment hundreds of thousands of dollars annually Why should the government give i ise seeds se ds away free tee The Th usual Us s at l answer r Is that the agricultural al interests Int f the i foundation of all our prosperity are benefited benefit d thereby that th t they arc ar en till the soil soU io to t better b tt r ad advantage d vantage to raise better grain and fruit and nd vegetables s When Wh n this has h s been I 1 said sam all has been said In favor tavor of ot free seeds On the other hand congress has Just as much right to appropriate large sums of money to be used in the purchase and free distribution of clothing It I 1 a fine flue thing for the congressman to tickle his constituents with presents of or seeds at the expense of the govern government government government ment But his constituents be bo pleased also If through their con congressmen congressmen gressmen gressen they could get free tree clothing free tree house rent free food and other things The distribution of ot seeds has just as at much tendency to destroy in Individual enterprise as to encourage It The man who can get seeds for tor noth nothing nothIng nothIng ing lat going to worry a great deal about his stock of seeds for next year The whole theory Is wrong The Themon money mon y that Is paid out for fot fo seeds should go JHO JUO other branches of or the agricultural agricultural tural It t could be distributed distributed among mong the agricultural experiment ment stations for example or among mong the farms managed exclusively by the government And very much better results would be attained |
