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Show ' "V '' "-' T, " ' miiiiip Where Your Taxes Go I How Uncle Sam Spends Your Money fl in Conducting Your Business I By EDWARD G. LOWRY I BB ftSmSirlj,,"t,n.Cl'MVP-' .'n,l,?v nd FnncUI Svtttn." ele. Contributor PoUUclndEconomloAttlcfn to Ldmg PrfodIcli uul Wiltt ot RecoimUcd 1 sBBS Authorltr on th National Oovcnunent's DualneM Method!. 1 HLH Copyright, Watwn Nwplf Union ' H X. JUST KEPT GROWING The origins of these antiquated, cumbersome, cum-bersome, costly, Inefficient pieces of the national machinery that we call the executive departments show how any establishment If well watered with government money will expand and hold together, no tunttcr how conflicting conflict-ing and Incongruous Its functions. Hardly one of theso great business establishmentsfor es-tablishmentsfor that Is what they are was planned, As they ure today they Just happened. Take the Department of Agriculture, for example, one of the greatest and most compter nnd wldespreadlngof nil the detriments. It Is lu closer touch nnd mure directly nffects the greatest number of people In the United Suites than any other bronco of the government govern-ment with the possible exception of the post office. It began In 1830 with un appropriation of $1,000, taken from the patent funds for the distribution distribu-tion of free seeds and the collection of agricultural statistics by the patent office, then a bureau lu the State department. de-partment. Now look nt the darned thing. It Is all over the place. The title of the department Indicates Its most Important field of activities, but Its functions have been extended to Include In-clude the whole range of rural Industry Indus-try nnd some branches of administration administra-tion only very Indirectly relntod to agricultural Interests. For about CO years subsequent to the Itevolutlon the general Interests of agriculture were left almost entirely to individual Initiative, Initia-tive, federal activity was confined to relatively narrow limits nnd wus merely mere-ly sporadic. Soon after the national government was organized some attempts at-tempts were mude to establish a board of agriculture; but neither Uio first proposal In 1700 nor a second effort In 1817 wus successful. Shortly after the Itevolutlon, follow lug the example of Bonjamln Frank-111) Frank-111) while In England, as agent of the colony of Pennsylvania during the yenrs 1704 to 1770, American consuls nnd naval officers began the practice uf sending home foreign seeds nnd cuttings cut-tings for new crops, and of aiding In the Introduction Into the United Stntes of new breeds of domestic nnlmntn. Even such small governmental participation partici-pation was. In the beginning, rather extra -ofllclnl. In 1830 the commissioner of patents, pat-ents, one II. L. Kllsworth, begnn the distribution of considerable quantities of seeds mid plants received from government gov-ernment icpreseutntlvcu In foreign countries; and three years later through his Influence nn appropriation jl of $1,000 was mndo for tho purpose of j procuring nnd distributing needs ot row plants, carrying agricultural In- vestlgntlons and collecting ugrlculturM stsfl statistics. This wns the historic be-1 IBiH ginning of the much-talkcd-ubout fre 911 seed distribution. Pl Hy nn net of congress In May, 1802, Efl since generally called the organic act, HH the nctlvltles ot the government affect- iiafl ng agriculture were placed under a stfl sepnrntc nnd distinct orgnnlzatlon iBtl known ns the Department of Agrlcut sl tore, In chnrgo of u commissioner ot jEfl agriculture. It did not rank, how- Kfl ever, with the other exccutlvo deprirt- bVI ments, nnd the commissioner wns not HI entitled to a sent In the Presidents bbViI cabinet. Isnnc Newton, chief of the HH agricultural section In the pntcnt office, LH wns nppnlntcd the first commissioner flH of agriculture. Other officers provide M by the organic net Included n stntls- BH tlclnn, a chemist, nn entomologist am) HI n superintendent of the propagating Hfl garden and experimental farm. LH Tho chrysalis wns now ready to be HI broken. In 18S0 the Department of Ag- HI rlculture wns elevated to the rank t LU the other exccutlvo departments and bvbb Its commissioner wns mndo secretary bf agriculture with a seat In the I'rol dent's cabinet. This was In drover Cleveland's administration, in honor HI of Its now rank a few mora functloaa Ki were tnken on. Hut Hint's enough detail. It kept ea !H growing. Tteglnnlng with an appro- Haa prlntlon of (1,000 and two or three- !HkT clerks, the department hnd. In 1010, jLn employees to tlio number nf 12,480, nmt U nu appropriation or $12,003.0:10. Flvo $VH yenrs rater the npproprintlou 1md HI grown to $10,800.8:12 nnd the em- ployees to 10,223. The employees la May. 1020, numbered 18,003 nnd the appropriation given by congress for the llscnl yenr 1021 was $!I1.475,:I08. Tho dppartment has Increased Its cost of living In 82 yenrs from a mere 91,000 that is, $&!.: n month ts more (linn (31,000.000 n yenr (2.022,- D47J18 every month. Thnt shows as BVl clearly and ns sharply as It can be Hfl shown how the high cost nf govern - incut living nirects your own cost et al We, you and I, pnld nut of our m- lugs nnd earnings cvcry red' cent of JLVjl that Increase from (1.000 a year to mora HI thiiii Ml. 000,000. It may have been HI well spent. We probably got n run Bv for our money; hut nobody knows, ex- 9V ccpt In a genernl way. Wo have a J right to know. It ts simply fnthendctb 1HI iichs on our part not to find out, Sl - HI |