86 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOLL WEEVIL CONVENTION. 



Mr. Polk. In the first place, if the Federal appropriation would not 

 come in until the end of the session, that may be extended until next 

 August. The appropriations of your State government, are never passed 

 until the end of your legislative session, which will be the latter part of 

 next July. Now, you have got a critical period between the planting of 

 the cotton crop, until the middle of July, without having this available 

 fund to be working on in that time. I still stand by my motion, to have 

 this appropriation placed at $100,000.00 as an absolutely necessary safe- 

 guard to make this fight. 



Mr. Williams. It occurs to me, that the Committee which made this 

 report, apprehended that they would have sufficient money, with this ap- 

 propriation, and I am in favor of standing by the report. I do not favor 

 the idea of forced legislation. The gentleman has stated that if you 

 obtained an appropriation of only $25,000.00 you might not get another 

 appropriation until the end of July. I do not know that has necessarily 

 to be so. Emergencies are sometimes considered by legislative bodies. 

 I think that $25,000.00 will meet all the emergencies of the present. We 

 have no cotton growing at this time. I think $25,000.00 will be amply 

 sufficient for the present. We may want more than $100,000.00 from the 

 next Legislature. 



The President. The question that we vote on now is the substitute. 

 The substitute means $100,000.00 instead of $25,000.00. 



On being put to the house, the substitute was lost. 



A motion duly seconded to adopt section four was then carried. The 

 resolutions were then duly adopted as whole. 



On motion of Judge Pugh, Governor Heard was invited to speak, which 

 he did as follows, to-wit : 



GOVERNOR HEARD. 



Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention I came here to this 

 Convention, not to speak, but to listen and gather all the information that 

 I could, to meet the questio'n that is before us to-day. I am gratified at 

 the unanimity which has characterized this Convention. I appreciate, I 

 think fully, the seriousness of the situation, and what it means, not only 

 to Louisiana, but to all the cotton growing States. I have been in cor- 

 respondence with the Agricultural Department at Washington, and I am 

 sure that they will lend us every endeavor for destroying this destructive 

 insect. While they will do very much, it is ours to do something too. 

 I am one of those that believe that those who help themselves first, will 

 come out better than to depend altogether upon some one else. I have 

 never had any doubt, in my mind, as to the wisdom of calling an extra 

 session to meet this question; but I did want this Convention, as I sug- 

 gested to the committee with which I conferred some time ago, to discuss 

 the situation and move along intelligent lines and to get at this question 



