Doctor WOODS. The States have been so advised through the regulatory officers. Mr. CRAMTON. Then why can not the Secretary of Agriculture say so to this committee? Secretary JARDINE. I have not, as far as I remember, made that request. Doctor Woods. I prepared the letter and the Secretary signed it; and that has gone out to the States. Secretary JARDINE. I think these States are going to pass the legislation. I think they will. Mr. CRAMTON. If they do not pass it you do not consider that you can go in? Secretary JARDINE. I have not the authority, as I understand it. I have every assurance that the States are going to pass that legislation. The CHAIRMAN. What do you mean by every assurance? Secretary JARDINE. Everything that I have received indicates that the States are going to pass the necessary legislation. These men coming from those States demand this legislation; they know they can not get anywhere unless they do have it. Mr. WOOD. You figured on the amount of $10,000,000 to do this demonstration work over this entire area? Secretary JARDINE. They figured this $10,000,000. Mr. WOOD. Let me ask you this question: Suppose one or two, or more of these States that are involved do not come in and you allocate this money for demonstration work in the States that have passed these regulatory laws. Would you spend all this $10,000,000 in those States where you did your work notwithstanding the fact that some of the States do not come in, or would you apportion it? Secretary JARDINE. I certainly would not. We are estimating what is necessary in each one of these regions, and the fact that Michigan may stay out will not entail any additional expense in Indiana, because we are putting in the maximum expense to do all that ought to be done and all that can be done. Mr. WOOD. If Michigan should stay out and Indiana should stay out, and you went on and did the work, there would be that proportion that had been allocated to those States that would be saved to the Treasury? Secretary JARDINE. Absolutely. Mr. CRAMTON. This hearing in the Senate was held in January. This bill was put in the hearing before the Senate committee at that time, and I assume had been brought to the attention of the different State authorities before that. Has any State as yet passed that legislation? Doctor. WOODS. We have no official information. Mr. CRAMTON. Have you any kind of information, grapevine, or otherwise? Doctor WOODS. Yes, sir. Mr. CRAMTON. What is the situation? Doctor Woods. That they are going to pass it. Mr. CRAMTON. Has any State legislature as yet passed it? Doctor WOODS. We have not been so officially advised. Mr. CRAMTON. Never mind whether you have been officially advised. I will accept hearsay. Secretary JARDINE. This has only recently passed, and we couid not go ahead and make demands until we know whether we are going to get it. Why should we? If you give us the money, we will take care of the rest, as far as notifying the States is concerned. Mr. CRAMTON. It is only about a week since the Federal legislation became law. Doctor Woops. As soon as the Federal law was approved a letter was sent to each State, over the Secretary's signature, asking that State to advise us immediately whether they had passed that legislation. We have advised the States that if any State stays out the whole program will stop.. Mr. CRAMTON. It was your theory, Mr. Secretary, that the States should not be expected to pass their legislation until the Federal Government has passed its legislation? Secretary JARDINE. I am not in a position to make a demand until I know that I am going to be clothed with some power. The CHAIRMAN. I can find a remedy for all your trouble. If the committee finally decides to report this legislation favorably, then if we write a provision in it that no part of the money can be expended for any purpose by the Secretary of Agriculture until all of these other things are done, that will settle it? Secretary JARDINE. Yes, sir; they have got to do it.. Mr. CRAMTON. I was leading up to this point, for my own information. This whole thing results from the organization of a certain committee, and that committee is made up of outstanding representatives of the principal farm organizations in those areas, the Farm Bureau, the Grange, etc. Secretary JARDINE. Yes. Mr. CRAMTON. It also includes not only some prominent farmers, but representatives of the State governments dealing with agricultural problems. Secretary JARDINE. Such as their commissioners of agriculture. Mr. CRAMTON. All of that leads up to the belief that there is a great deal of interest in this subject among the farmers and the regulatory powers in those States? Secretary JARDINE. Yes. Mr. CRAMTON. But if those States, or the legislatures in those States which have been in session, have all as yet failed to pass any legislation enabling them to cooperate with you in this campaign it raises some question in my mind as to the actual interest of those States or those State authorities in this program. Secretary JARDINE. It also does in mine. Mr. CRAMTON. If they are interested I think they ought to get busy in the States pretty soon. Secretary JARDINE. We said to the States, "What, are you seared of this thing? Then show us some evidence that you are scared; pass your regulations, and then we will begin to get scared down e." I said, "Get this law passed before you come down here." Mr. CRAMTON. I think we ought to have a little evidence of good faith on the part of the State authorities that they are ready to do this. The CHAIRMAN. You know, it is easy to propaganda against the Treasury of the United States. There is only one place in the Government of the United States where the taxpayer has a chance, and that is right here at this table. He has not got a chance anywhere else. We are going to protect him as far as we know how. Secretary JARDINE. We would be in sympathy with you. Mr. CRAMPTON. I have had some experience with the legislatures of the different States, and also feel the importance of action by the Federal Government as hastening action on the part of the States. If you go on and pass your law, then of course they have to act. Mr. WOOD. Mr. Secretary, if this money is to be appropriated at all, I take it you ought to have it available as soon as possible. Secretary JARDINE. We ought to know it as soon as possible. Mr. Wood. I think somebody has stated-I may be mistaken about that-that in order for this to do any good at all you ought to have it by the 18th of this month. Doctor Woods. By the 18th of this month. URGENCY OF APPROPRIATION Mr. WOOD. Suppose you did not get it by the 18th of this month? Doctor Woods. That will delay the placing of our contracts for equipment, and might endanger the whole program. Mr. WOOD. This is the 12th. That leaves six days. This bill will not have passed Congress in six days. Secretary JARDINE. I do not think it need necessarily be the 18th, but as close to that as possible. Doctor WOODS. We had to proceed to get bids on this equipment in order to find out whether we could get it. Those bids are returnable on the 18th. The CHAIRMAN. What authority did you have to make contracts? Doctor WOODS. We can not accept them until we have this authority. Mr. CRAMTON. I mean the action of the several States. Doctor WOODS. We can not do that, either. We have got to have that action. We have requested that, and expected to get it. The CHAIRMAN. If this is reported, that provision will be in it. Doctor Woods. That is a good suggestion, too. DESTRUCTION OF STALKS, STUBBLE, ETC., BY FIRE Mr. BUCHANAN. I want to make just one suggestion, Mr. Secretary. I have no doubt that all of these States will pass this legislation, as they always ultimately do. There is no doubt that you will get this appropriation, and it will be a good big appropriation. I would like to suggest that you make one experiment upon a considerable area in this experimental demonstration work; that is, burn everything-weeds, stalks, stubble, fence corners, if they have fence corners, or fence rows, and turning rows. The CHAIRMAN. Fences and all? Mr. BUCHANAN. I would not ask them to burn the barbed wire. This is just an experiment now, and I want to show you where it is leading. Suppose you burn everything all the stubble, weeds, and everything else on it-and it should develop that the next year you had hardly any infestation. Then continue; burn it again until the worm disappears. Then we would have a reasonable assurance that by that method you could ultimately eradicate it; not all in one year, but year by year just infringing upon the infected area and burning everything for a few years, you might ultimately get rid of the thing. I am just suggesting that as an experiment. You have got a large appropriation, and if you try burning the whole thing it might ultimately lead to a solution of the whole problem. Secretary JARDINE. Of course we have got all kinds of agencies at work on the investigational side of this thing. Mr. BUCHANAN. I know you have. Secretary JARDINE. And that may be one of the things they are demonstrating. I do not know. The CHAIRMAN. Maybe you could get along better if you had a few less agents working on it. Secretary JARDINE. Well, maybe; but the public sets them up, you know. The CHAIRMAN. But they all lead to the Treasury of the United States. That is the only trouble about it. That is the first place they lead into-to the Treasury-and the last place. DETAILED STATEMENT OF PROPOSED EXPENDITURES Will you now give the committee, for the record, a complete detailed statement of the amount of money you propose to expend for each activity connected with the removal or eradication or elimination of this bug; the number of people you are going to employ; the names of the people; the activities in which they are to engage Secretary JARDINE (interposing). We will not be able to name the people. The leaders we will. The CHAIRMAN. I mean the names of the leaders. Then, the compensation that you are going to pay to each supervisory official. What is the highest compensation you are going to pay? Secretary JARDINE. I think $500 for Reed, of Ohio, an engineer. The CHAIRMAN. For a month? Secretary JARDINE. A month; for a three or four month period. The CHAIRMAN. Also give us the distribution of the fund for each of the activities and each of the territories embraced in the 2,500,000 acres of land said to be infested. Secretary JARDINE. Yes, sir. (The statement requested is as follows:) PURPOSE AND ESTIMATE OF COST (SUMMARY AND DETAIL) OF PROPOSED CLEAN-UP OF AREAS QUARANTINED ON ACCOUNT OF THE EUROPEAN CORN BORER, FOR PERIOD FEBRUARY TO JULY, 1927 FOREWORD Present status of corn borer in Agriculture. The area now quarantined on account of the European corn borer embraces about 3,000,000 acres of corn. This is an increase of approximately 50 per cent over the 1925 acreage. The degree of infestation in 1926 was about twice that of 1925, and the average number of larvæ per 100 stalks has increased from about 2.4 to 7.4, an increase of about 300 per cent in one year. Commercial damage is already in evidence in this country. The borer is spreading rapidly to the west and south from the Lake Erie region. Too much emphasis can not be placed upon the need for drastic action in an attempt to protect as long as possible the great corn section of the Mississippi Valley. Proposal. That in the spring of 1927 a great movement be under way by State and Federal forces to clean up, where farmers fail to do so, all infested fields west of western New York and western Pennsylvania in order to kill as many larvæ as possible and thereby reduce to a minimum the number of moths by which spread will be perpetuated in 1927. Purpose of proposed clean-up.-It is the first great, coordinated effort to retard the progress of the borer westward and southward, to hold the pest back as much as possible while science is trying to catch up with it by devising ways and means of controlling the insect and of living with it. It is hoped also that the clean-up will serve to postpone heavy commercial damage in regions already infested. Chances of success.—As an engineering feat, the proposed clean-up is entirely possible and practical providing sufficient funds are available February 1, 1927, providing State laws are enacted to allow unhampered procedure, and providing weather conditions are not extremely unusual. Entomologically, the proposed clean-up is an experiment. But even the most pessimistic viewpoint must admit that the clean-up will cause the destruction-and hence the elimination of millions of living borer larvæ. If the proposed clean-up, as an experiment or demonstration, is successful to even a small degree, undoubtedly the expenditure will have been wisely made. If it fails, the public will have the satisfaction at least of knowing that concerted effort was made. But if no attempt is made to curtail the menace, those responsible for failure to try can be seriously arraigned by the American public. Origin of movement.--The request for the proposed clean-up came from the international corn borer organization, and the active proponents of it are those represented by the organization's executive committee whose membership follows: Executive committee.-G. I. Christie, director agricultural experiment station, Purdue University, LaFayette, Indiana, chairman; C. V. Truax, director department of agriculture, Columbus, Ohio, secretary; C. F. Curtiss, dean and director division of agriculture, Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa; L. E. Call, director agricultural experiment station, Kansas State College, Manhattan, Kans.; C. G. Woodbury, director raw products research, National Canners Association, Washington, D. C.; Arthur Gibson, Dominion entomologist, department of agriculture, Ottawa, Canada; Sam Thompson, president American Farm Bureau Federation, Chicago, Ill.; L. J. Taber, master National Grange, Columbus, Ohio; A. C. Carton, director Bureau agricultural industry, department of agriculture, Lansing, Mich.; C. W. Willetts, director department of agriculture, Harrisburg, Pa.; C. P. Norgord, assistant commissioner department of farms and markets, Albany, N. Y. Advisory members.-L. H. Worthley, in charge of quarantine work, United States Department of Agriculture, 2036 East Twenty-second Street, Cleveland, Ohio; C. O. Reed, agricultural engineering, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. REASON FOR NATIONAL MOVEMENT AND REQUEST FOR FEDERAL FUND The nation must strive to accomplish two things immediately. One duty is to protect the typical corn belt as long as possible from invasion. The other duty is to keep the borer population below the point of commercial damage as long as possible. The farmer in infested territory cares nothing about the protection of uninfested regions, and he is reluctant to pay for such protection. He is mainly interested in keeping the borer population in his own vicinity below the point of commercial damage. The farmer in uninfested territory cares little about the commercial damage in infested areas. He is chiefly interested in the protection of uninfested regions. Each of the above farmers is primarily interested in the net profit in corn; neither is directly interested in what the public ultimately pays for its food. But the public proposes, to get its food as cheap as possible, as long as possible. |