Newspaper Page Text
Supplement to Conyers WeeKly Banner.
A Searchlight Thrown on the Ceorg tmA * a Department
of Agriculture.
Marietta, Ga., Jan. 28, 1901-<
Con. R. T. Nesbitt,
Cobb County, Georgia.
Dear Sir .—As there is much interest
at present in the office of the Commis¬
sioner of Agriculture, will you be so
good as to inform the readers of the
.
Journal as to the duties of that office ;
the character of the reforms introduced
by yourself, when you so acceptably
and efficiently filled that office, and also
give them some idea of the receipts and
expenditures of the office during your
administration as compared with that
of the present incumbent, O. B.
Stevens.
As this position is soon to be filled by
the people, they would like to have
some information as to the workings of
the department, so that they can elec¬ vote
intelligently at the approaching
tion. Very respectfully ; IT. Earle.
Richard
“Farm Hill,” Cobb Co., Feb. 7,1902.
Mr. Richard IT. Earle,
Marietta. received.
My Dear Sir:— Your letter
Thanks for your commendation of my
administration of the affairs of the
State Agricultural jJepartment. In re¬
ply to your inquiries, I trust I may be
pardoned for a seeming egotism in the
following summary. It is impossible
to give the information you desire in
any other form.
It is the duty of the Commissioner of
Agriculture to make the department a
* medium of dissem¬
Duties of the inating informa¬
Commissioner tion of interest and
* value to Georgia
farmer by every means in his power,
publications, lectures, personal ad¬
dresses, etc. Horticulture also comes
within the scope of its influence. The
Commissioner is intended to be the
watchful guardian of the agricultural He
interests, of the state, is also
charged with of the supervision and en¬
forcement the inspection laws as? to
fertilizers and oils, being empowered
to establish such rules and regulations
“as in his judgment will best carry out
the requirements thereof.” Out of the.
money received from the sale of ferti¬
lizer tags, he is directed by law to pay
the salaries and expenses of the ferti¬
lizer inspectors, whom he appoints, and
.whose salaries he regulates; to pur¬
chase the tags, bottles, labels, etc.,
used in fertilizer inspections, and then
place the also surplus in the treasury.
He appoints the inspectors of
oils. They are required to report to
him, but their fees are regulated by
the amount of oil inspected, and the
surplus is paid directly to the treasury.
The surplus fees from both oils and
fertilizers go the school fund. In each
case there are certain legal restrictions
and regulations to guard against fraud
in the returns.
REFORMS DURING ADMINISTRA¬
TION OF R. T. NESBITT.
The legislature was in session when
I took charge in 1890, and I immediate
* --*ly Refortn In urged the abolish
the ment of the system by
Oil Law. which oil inspectors
•* were then receiving
exorbitant fees, in some cases as much
as $8,000 per year.
passed, By the new oil law, which was at once
and which I strongly advocated,
* -;--- ‘about $105,000.00
$105,000 Saved was saved to the
to the State school fund during
From Oil fees. the eight years of
■* my administration.
I was careful to bring no unnecessary
charge against these fees.
On the same line of retrenchment,
the large number of long term ferti
9 lizer inspectors
Many Thousands was reduced to
Saved by deduc¬ four. These were
tion in Salaries kept on duty the
of Fertilizer In¬ whole year; oth
spectors. ers from 4 to 6
* ___ ■* months as requir
ed, and each inspector was paid $83.33
per month, instead of $125.00, as was
the case when I took charge. This was
another reduction of thousands of dol-
am In the race for Commissioner and ask your support in bringing about
a different line of policy in the management of the Department of •
Agriculture.—R. T. NESBITT.
in the expenses-of the department,
of which the school fund received the
benefit.
The office expenses were also reduced
$1,800 per year, and although the office
*-------duties were stead
Reduction of ily increased by
Clerk Hire $1,800 the co n s t a n 11 y
per Year. augmenting o i 1
+ ---- * and fertilizer bus¬
iness, the work was number efficiently carried clerks,
on by the original of
with a small increase of salaries.
Recognizing the fact that the system
of fertilizer inspection as theneonduct
*---------* ed, did not afford
Entire Change in adequate protection
System of Ferti- to the farmers of
lizer Inspection, j the State, I at once
¥ -----------* presented to t h e
General Assembly bulk a bill, by which in¬
spections in at the factories were
entirely abolished, and all inspections
were required to be made after the
goods had left the factories in separate
packages. There were several other
provisions of this bill .which placed
Georgia in the forefront as.,to the ju¬
dicious and careful trade, supervision of law her
immense fertilizer and this
became the basis for similar laws in
other States.
Another important improvement Labratory was
the removal of the State
* ____* from Athens to
Removal of Chem- tfie State Capitol
ist’s Office to The chang in the
Capitol. fertilizer law and
* * the immense in
crease in the fertilizer trade had vastly
increased the work of the Chemist, and
the removal of the labratory greatly
simplified and facilitated this work.
The department was made the means
of communicating valuable informa
,___* tion on agricultural.
| Publications Farmers. . for r J discussion subjects. , . , 1 of topics ...
* I j relating
--* to the farm
the garden, the orchard, the dairy and
kindred subjects were, by
ments with the weekly press, published
each month, and these were placed be¬
fore the farmer in his weekly paper.
By this plan many farmers cut off from
the usual sources of information, were
reached and placed in touch with sub¬
jects of value to them in their farm
operations.
Besides these monthly publications,
the department issued every year a
* * large, substantially
Annual bound “Annual,”
Publications. which, besides valua
# * ble information on all
classes of - agricultural subjects, had
appended a full account of my steward¬
ship of the trust committed to my care.
The name of every employee of the
office, with salaries, the name of each
* fertilizer and oil
Names of Office date inspector, with
Force, Fertilizer of service
and Oil Inspectors, and salary, were
With Salaries given fully and
Published. clearly. Also the
penditures of the department receipts and ex¬
ly shown, and these “Annuals” were ful¬
sent section were
out to every of the State
Fertilizer and other bulletins con
* tabling a full list
Fertilizer and of analyses, form
Other Bulletins. ulas for certain
J crops and other
needed and valuable information were
published yearly.
Besides these monthly and yearly
publications, the depart,,issued an
* “--« illustrated man
Books for General 1 ual entitled
Information I “Georgia, Fair
*-—- J Field • for Home
seekers and Investors,” and later a
large volume, also profusely illustrated
and containing a series of carefully
prepared maps, entitled “Georgia, Her
Resources and Possibilities.” This
volume not anly illustrates the various
advances made by* the industries-of
the State, but showed by an exhibit of
the “resources” of each and every
county her boundless “possibilities.”
To the above principal features of
my record, during the time that I held
the office, I can point with just pride,
and it is in nojspirit of boasting that I
pave in response to your request, pre¬
hared the following:
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE AD¬
MINISTRATION OF O. B. STEVENS
THE PRESENT COMMISSIONER
OF AGRICULTURE, AND THAT
OF R. T. NESBITT.
In this statement I have selected the
last two years of my administration and
of Mr. Stevens, because I supported the
Horticultural Department from the
$10,000 annually appropriated to the
Department While of Agriculture.
Mr. Stevens has a special ap¬
propriation for this purpose, I do not
-* wish to be under¬
Department of stood as decrying
Horticulture. the work of the
•* Horticultural de¬
partment. No appropriation in the
State is used to better advantage and
this department is an important ad¬
junct to the Department of Agricul¬
ture. , It is only necessary to refer to
this appropriation in order to make the
comparison just.
RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRI¬
CULTURE FOR TWO YEARS—
FROM SEPT. 30, 1899. TO SEPT. 30.
1901, O. B. STEVENS, COMMIS¬
SIONER. *
RECEIPTS.
By sale of tags, 2 years . .$ 97,473 74
By inspection of oil 2 yrs 60,301 33
L annual appropriation 2yrs 20,000 00
J tor printing >yrs 2,000 00
l>i ,l,n or e iemiC{ \ clerks
commissioners . and
salai iei5 ’ ~ H • • • X 13
By salary state oil . inspector,
~ > ears ; • . . 2,305 10
By appropriation Department
Horticulture, 2 yrs . . . 7,500 00
Total receipts fcr 2 years $208,564 30
dlsbu kskmk.ntS.
Tj treasury from
sale tags. 2 yrs $61,039 67
To treasury in—
. spec’on of oils
2 years . . . 23,410 39
Total paid to $84,450
treas’y 2 yrs 56
Cost of operating depart¬
ment 2 years .... $124,113 74
O. B. Stevens, Commissioner.
disbursements.
To treasury from
sale of tags,for
2 years .... $49,206 63
To treasury in¬
spection of oils
2 years .... 26,993 95
Total paid to $76,200
treas, 2yrs . . , 58
Cost of operating Depart¬ 67
ment, 2 years .... $101,039
R, T. Nesbits, Commissioner.
A study of these figures will reveal
the following facts:
1st. That the cost of operating the
department for two years is $23,000.00
more under Stevens’ administration
than Nesbitt’s.
2nd. That, although the receipts are
mHch lar g e J for Stevens-and he pays
less for fertilizer , tags—Nesbitt
P lac ?d a much larger per cent of the
receipts into the treasury to the credit
ot the school fund.
3rd. That, besides the special ap
inspector, a useless office, created
under the provisions of Mr. Stevens’
new oil law! There is no scientific test
in inspecting oil. A boy of ordinary
intelligence can learn, in a short while
how to make the test with the instru
ment that is used. If on account of
poor or impure oil a more scientific
test is required, the State Chemist is
the man to do the work, and he is al
ready paid by the State for just such
emergencies. Should the oil not come
up to the standard a state oil inspector,
unless he be a chemist, can do no more
than the local inspector. If ,the local
inspectors need instructions, they can
be furnished by a few hours visit to the
capitol, where the commissioner and
chemist can fully inform them as to
their duties. With the large force of
over fluous sixty oil inspectors and this super¬
is it appointee, the state oil inspector
burning not strange oils that the quality of our
should be so flagrantly and
so Macon generally alone unsatisfactory? From
there were 5.000 com¬
plaints, and from all over the State the
cry By goes up!
the efforts and at the instance of
Mr. Stevens, a new oil law was passed
* soon after his in¬
A Comparison of duction into office.
the Oil Laws Un¬ By the provisions
der Nesbitt and of this oil law a
Under Stevens. state oil inspector
* was appointed and
the Hash test was reduced from 120 de¬
grees in an open tester to 100 degrees
in a closed tester. It was also provid¬
ed that all oil which had stood the 100
degrees test, the lowest grade allowed
on the market, should be branded sim¬
ply “approved” by the inspector and
allowed to go on sale.
1 was repeatedly urged by the repre¬
sentatives of the oil companies to use
my influence to establish some such
change in the law', but always refused
because of its injustice to the consum¬
er and the large latitude allowed the
oil companies. I required Die barrels
to be nnfrkcd according to the test-120,
130, 140 degrees, and so on, that the
consumer paid for. might know' exactly what he
Different grades of oil were
sold, the price regulated by the quality.
Today the State is flooded with thous¬
ands of gallons of low-grade oil, all
branded “approved” and commanding
the highest price. The oil companies
have been quick to take advantage of
the gap so invitingly left open and are
reaping a rich harvest. Where is the
protection against such ail outrage,
which the people have a right to ex¬
pect, and which is the sworn duty of
the Commissioner of Agriculture to
render? .The State at large is paying
hundreds of thousands of dollars more
than the oil is worth. Elsewhere , oil
was In Georgia never cheaper or more abundant.
one lias to pay the same
price for oil to run his engine or to
burn in his reading lamp !
ly A comparison of publications is large¬
in favor of the Nesbitt administra
* --* tion. By strict econ
Comparison of omy in the use of
Publications the $10,000 appropri- •.
* * ation I was able to
apply that money directly for the ben¬
efit of the farmers in the publications
mentioned elsewhere.
Beyond an occasional letter, the fer¬
tilizer bulletins and a book recently is¬
sued, prepared by Professor Derry,
the eminent scientist and scholar, we
find nothing in the way of publications. depart¬
No details of the work of the
ment, no data as to inspectors. A neigh¬
bor of mine recently wrote to the de¬
partment, asking for this information,
and received in reply one of Professor
Derry’s books, “Georgia, Historical
and Industrial!”
Sometime since I had occasion to in¬
quire as to the number of inspectors,
etc., on duty, but it was impossible told by to
obtain thig information. I was
one of the clerks in the agricultural did
department that the Commissioner
not consider it “good politics” to pub¬
lish these names! Why does the Com¬
missioner of Agriculture withhold this
information from the public? The peo¬
ple wish to know how their money is
spent and also what work the Commis¬
sioner has accomplished in bringing
the department nearer in touch with
the farmers of Georgia? The only “re¬
form” that we have any knowledge of
is the new oil law', which seems to have
failed of its object!
An investigation of the amount paid
by the present commissioner for clerk
* _ .* hire will demonstrate
Difference In that, in two years, he
Clerk Hire. has spent over six
•* thousand dollars more
in this item alone than in the same pe¬
riod of my administration.
Yours very truly,
R. T. Nesbitt.