1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 215 



just as much as it would protect the farmer. It is right in 

 the line of work indicated by the paper given to us this 

 afternoon. It is of interest to agriculture, it is of interest 

 to every honest man dealing in seed, and it is of interest to 

 every planter. I think it would be a good thing for the 

 State of Massachusetts to be the first State in the Union to 

 strike out on that line. It is coining, sooner or later. You 

 might as well begin in 1891 as to put it off till later. 



Professor Roberts. I feel that probably this is a good 

 entering wedge ; but I liked the word of the last speaker on* 

 the stage, when he said we should have laws "in the interest 

 of righteousness." This only strikes at one little bit of 

 fraud, and so it is not broad enough. I do not wish to 

 throw cold water by any means upon this resolution ; but to 

 try to administer a law in a great State like this simply on 

 one little interest, with all the expensive machinery, will be 

 found very difficult. What we want is a general law, not 

 for Massachusetts, but for the United States, "in the inter- 

 est of righteousness," that all things shall be what thev are 

 marked. Now, in the State of New York we run against 

 this constitutional provision, that the Legislature can make 

 no law governing trade of any kind or prohibiting adultera- 

 tion of any kind except that adulteration can be proven to 

 be inimical to the health of the people. We cannot touch 

 such a thing in our State, we cannot even control commer- 

 cial fertilizers ; and it is quite time that we as farmers, who 

 have now got a little touch of the rein which we ought to 

 have gotten hold of long ago, and learned to drive our own 

 team, — it is quite time, it seems to me, that we broaden out, 

 and say there is such a thing as eternal justice, and that is 

 all we demand, — not one cent for the farmer, but eternal 

 justice in taxation and everything else, — and that we will 

 spend our last breath and our last dollar to secure it. You 

 New Englanders are used to that sort of work, are you not? 

 Your ancestors fought for eternal justice. Are you the de- 

 generate sons of noble sires ? Eternal justice ! It does not 

 matter whether you are a farmer, or sell peanuts on the cor- 

 ner. Let us stop this age of everlasting fraud, and the only 

 people that can stop that is the farming community. It will 

 never be stopped by the politician, it will never be stopped 



