420 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc 



"in favor of payment of sugar bounties by the United 

 States," protests " against beef trust," " against the impor- 

 tation of shoddy goods," " for the extermination of the gypsy 

 moth," and numerous others, were offered and referred to 

 the committee on resolutions. 



An interesting incident of the Congress, and worth relat- 

 ing, was the exhibition, by a Georgia member, of a silver 

 cup which was presented to George Washington in 1700 

 by the South Carolina Agricultural Society for raising the 

 largest jackass ; a picture of the jackass was engraved on 

 the side of the cup. 



The question which occupied more of the time of the 

 Congress than any other was the " silver question," brought 

 before that body by resolutions variously worded, and which 

 was ably discussed and finally disposed of by vote in favor 

 of the coinage of both silver and gold without mention of 

 ratio of values. 



On Sunday the delegates, by special invitation of Rev. 

 Mr. Hawthorne of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, 

 attended divine service, the church being filled. Dr. Haw- 

 thorne in his sermon said : — 



' ' I am confident that among the men who till the soil of 

 this country there is more incorruptible integrity than can 

 be found in any other element of our population. For 

 more than two-thirds of a century agriculturists dominated 

 the government and social life of the nation. It requires 

 no prophetic gift to see that a return of the agricultural 

 classes to power would result in a revival of that virtuous 

 simplicity and uncompromising integrity which character- 

 ized the American people in the better days of the republic." 



The sessions of the Congress were resumed the following- 

 day in the council chamber of the city, where papers upon 

 various topics Avere read and discussed ; the presentation of 

 more resolutions, one of which was in favor of liberal ap- 

 propriations being made by the United States government 

 for the improvement of rivers and harbors, which was re- 

 ferred to the committee on resolutions, and was passed. 



Papers were read on "Artificial fertilizers and middle- 

 men," "Eve and the new Adam," "The susceptibility of 



