Gambar halaman
PDF
ePub

that the animal products exported from this country were untainted by disease, and which would reveal at once the presence of any diseases affecting our meat-producing animals. The call for such inspection was not because of any unusual prevalence of disease, since the animals of the United States are probably at present more exempt from such influences than those of any other nation, but because of the unfounded statements of disease which have been made the pretense for the restrictions and prohibitions which the governments of other countries have enforced against our animals and their products. None of these restrictions upon the sale of our meats have been removed, and it appears from the statements of shippers, confirmed in some cases by the reports of our consular agents, that there is a tendency to make them more stringent and irksome. It is sufficiently evident that any assistance which the Government can properly render to such trade, at a time when our home markets are overstocked as at present, should be freely accorded.

A bill providing for a general inspection law of this character was passed by the Senate September 18, 1890, and has been referred to the Committee on Commerce of the House of Representatives. This bill provides for all necessary regulations, and if passed will enable the Secretary of Agriculture to cause the inspection of animals and meats at slaughter, and to give a guaranty of their wholesomeness and freedom from taint of every kind. Such a law is urgently needed and should be enacted without delay

QUARANTINE AND INSPECTION OF IMPORTED CATTLE.

Regulations for the quarantine of neat cattle from the countries not located on the American continent continue to be enforced. The period of quarantine-three months-is regarded as amply sufficient under the regulations to prevent the introduction of disease; and no additional restrictions will be imposed, notwithstanding the fact of the restrictions imposed by Great Britain on cattle from this country, and the further fact that pleuro-pneumonia is much more prevalent and widespread in Great Britain than it ever was here.

There has long been danger of the introduction of foot-and-mouth disease by the importation of sheep, swine, and other susceptible animals that have heretofore been allowed to land without either quarantine or inspection; indeed, this disease has several times been brought to this country by cattle from Great Britain, but it has fortunately been detected in time to prevent its dissemination here. Notwithstanding this fact, our sheep have been excluded from Great Britain for more than ten years, owing to the alleged existence of this disease in the United States, where it is never seen except in British cattle that were affected before landing.

I have concluded that the adoption by this Department of regulations for quarantine and inspection of all neat cattle, sheep, and other

ruminants, and all swine imported into the United States under the authority given to me by the act of August 30, 1890, is necessary for the full protection of our own live animals. Regulations have accordingly been perfected to carry this provision into effect, and it is believed that the result will be not only to fully protect our herds and flocks, but, in view of the assurances to that effect secured from the British authorities, that it will moreover result in the revocation by the British Government of the regulation excluding our sheep from Great Britain. This inspection and quarantine of all cattle, sheep, and swine imported into the country will add seriously to the work of this Department. During the twelve months ending June 30, 1890, cattle were imported to the number of 30,695; sheep to the number of 393,794; but the figures of the Bureau of Statistics of the Treasury Department fail to give the number of swine imported. Increased duties levied under the present law will no doubt greatly diminish the number of animals imported, although during the year just mentioned 3,935 head of cattle and 16,303 head of sheep were admitted duty free, on the ground that they were imported for breeding purposes.

In this connection I would point out that the average value of the 10,865 horses imported for breeding purposes during the year was but $270 each; that the cattle imported for this purpose averaged but $18.60, and the sheep but $7.26, showing conclusively that by far the greater number of these animals were not of such a character as would improve our native stock, and that they could only be sold in competition with the animals produced by our own farmers. The new law provides "that no such animal shall be admitted free unless pure bred of a recognized breed, and duly registered in the book of record established for that breed." This wise provision will no doubt restrict the importation of animals free of duty to those which have special merit and which will prove beneficial to the agricultural interest.

THE SUGAR INDUSTRY.

Encouraging progress has been made within the past year in the development of an indigenous sugar industry. Under the impetus given by the investigations of this Department, improved processes of manufacture have been introduced on many of the more prominent plantations of Louisiana. In Florida large tracts of swamp land suitable for the cultivation of sugar cane have been reclaimed, and the culture and manufacture of cane have already been begun. In Nebraska a large beet-sugar factory, capable of using 300 tons of beets per day, has been erected with the best approved modern machinery, and is now in successful operation. The finest quality of granulated sugar is produced, which finds a ready local market, thus avoiding all expenses of transportation to and from a distant refinery.

A careful study of the soil and climatic conditions of the country favorable to the production of sugar beets has been made, and those localities in the United States best adapted for this purpose have been pointed out. This area includes a zone of territory extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, with a breadth of from 100 to 200 miles. It includes parts of the New England States, Northern New York, Northeastern Pennsylvania, Northern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Southern Iowa, parts of Nebraska and the Dakotas, and large portions of the Rocky Mountain plateaux and of the Pacific slope. Within these areas it is confidently believed-and this belief has been verified by actual production of good beets-will be found an adequate acreage for the production of sugar on a large scale, and from beets as rich as can be grown in Europe. It is not an idle prophecy to speak of the production of a quantity of beet sugar in the near future sufficient to supply one half or more of all the sugar consumed in the United States.

The investigations in sorghum culture have also been vigorously prosecuted, and the Department will soon be ready to offer to the sorghum growers of the country a few varieties of that plant which have been already developed to a high degree of excellence as sugar producers. At least one sugar factory in Kansas has been operated the present year with profit to the owners, with an output of three quarters of a million pounds of sugar, demonstrating that with the best agriculture, the best soil and climate, and the best machinery, sorghum sugar may be made at a profit.

Under the fostering provisions of the new tariff bill, it is believed that the patient and laborious investigations of the Department will soon bear fruit and result in the production of our sugar at home." To further secure this end I have established three special experimental stations for the scientific study of the problems underlying the promotion of an indigenous sugar industry; one each for sugar cane, sorghum, and the sugar beet. Through these stations the farmers of the country will be taught the principles of the successful growth of the plants producing sugar, and the manufacturer the best methods of securing in marketable shape the products of the fields. With the administrative changes in the tariff law which I recommend, it is my sincere belief that the efforts of this Department to secure home sugar for home consumption will prove successful.

EFFECTS OF RECENT LEGISLATION.

It becomes my duty to call attention in this report to certain provisions under the tariff law which went into effect on the 6th instant, relating to the bounties on sugar from beets, sorghum, or sugar cane grown within the United States. Under Schedule E, paragraph 231, it is provided that the bounty on sugar, according to the polariscopic test, shall be paid "under such rules and regulations as the Commis

sioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall prescribe." Paragraph 232 provides that to the same officer, namely, the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, sugar producers shall give due notice as to the place of production, equipment, and an estimate as to the amount of sugar they propose to produce in the current or next ensuing year, and that they shall furthermore apply to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for a license, accompanied by a bond. Paragraph 233 provides that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall issue such license; paragraph 234, that no person not so provided with a license, etc., can receive bounty, and that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, "shall from time to time make all needful rules and regulations for the manufacture of sugar from sorghum, beets, or sugar cane grown within the United States, or from maple sap produced within the United States, and shall, under the direction. of the Secretary of the Treasury, exercise supervision and inspection of the manufacture thereof;" and so on throughout the entire Schedule E, relating to sugar, does the law provide that the entire regulation and control of sugar making in the United States shall devolve upon a subordinate officer of the Secretary of the Treasury.

It seems impossible that the law should have been so drafted, save by an oversight. The entire work relating to the development of the sugar industry in the United States, from the chemical supervision of sugar making established in Louisiana to the sorghum and beet-sugar experiments throughout the country, has been, from the first, part of the work of the Department of Agriculture, under the special supervision of its chief chemist. Under the direction of this officer there have been issued from time to time bulletins of the utmost importance to both growers and manufacturers. They are, indeed, the only official sources of information relating to this important industry issued by the National Government; and during the last session of Congress a special appropriation was made by that body of $50,000, to be expended through the Chemical Division of this Department under my direction, in promoting the cultivation of sugar-making plants and the manufacture of sugar. Moreover, the very essence of the supervision necessary, with a view to an equitable award of bounties, namely, the testing of the sugar by the polariscope, is a strictly scientific operation, coming within the sphere of the Chemical Division, and one with which a considerable experience has made the chief and his assistants thoroughly familiar.

If it is really the intention of Congress to withdraw the "supervision and inspection" of the sugar industry from this Department, such intention should be formally expressed, and the efforts of this Department in relation to this important matter, involving the

[blocks in formation]

expenditure of much time, labor, and money, must be restricted to such lines of labor and investigation in connection with this industry as relate directly and exclusively to the sphere of the tiller of the soil. It is perhaps not generally understood that heretofore all the scientific supervision of work done in the various manufactories of sugar throughout the country has been exercised by the Chemical Division of this Department. Officers of this division have been detailed by me for this purpose, and a number of them are so engaged under my orders at the present time. It is unquestionably due to this Department to recognize the fact that whatever improvement has been made in methods of sugar manufacture, and whatever progress has been accomplished in the development of the sorghum and beet-sugar industry, has been due to the scientific investigations conducted under its auspices and the practical application of the results under the supervision of its officers.

Again, under free list, paragraph 482 provides that "any animal imported specially for breeding purposes shall be admitted free." It is further provided, in accordance with a suggestion of my own, that no such animals shall be admitted free unless pure bred, of a recognized breed, and duly registered in a book of record established for that breed. The provisions referred to are followed by the statement that "the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe such additional regulations as may be required for the strict enforcement of this provision." Even before this Department was an executive department of the Government, its Bureau of Animal Industry had supervision of the importation of live animals into this country, and the head of the Department was held responsible in matters of quarantine of live animals, and for the supervision of the live-stock industry and the contagious diseases of animals. Recent legislation enlarges the powers of this Department, lodging in the hands of the Secretary of Agriculture the control of all importations of animals, whether free or dutiable, imposing upon him the duty of inspecting the same, as he is charged also with the duty of regulating the interstate commerce in live animals and the proper inspection of all live animals exported.

Under those circumstances, the provision I have quoted, making it the duty of another officer to prescribe regulations for the enforcement of the provision admitting animals free under certain conditions, is incomprehensible to me. In section 20 of the said law it is provided

That the operation of this section

Prohibiting the importation of neat cattle and hides of neat cattle from any foreign country

shall be suspended as to any foreign country or countries or any parts of such country or countries, whenever the Secretary of the Treasury shall officially deter

« SebelumnyaLanjutkan »