746 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXII. No. 571. 



twelve million copies of all publications 

 distributed by the department during the 

 past year nearly 45 per cent, were dis- 

 tributed through senators and representa- 

 tives in congress, over which distribution, 

 of course, the secretary has no control. He 

 notes with approval a growing demand for 

 the department publications from institu- 

 tions of learning and other agencies inter- 

 ested in agricultural education. 



Referring to the work of the Bureau of 

 Statistics, the secretary says that the de- 

 velopment of organizations to fix prices, 

 and in some cases to force temporary 

 changes giving unnatural advantages to 

 price manipulators, has led to the need for 

 a strong and impartial agency to make 

 comprehensive reports of actual facts re- 

 lating to prospective crops and yields, that 

 all concerned may know how to buy and 

 sell. He describes the various processes of 

 crop reporting, the conditions under which, 

 and the methods by which the reports are 

 made. 



The secretary states that as the result of 

 a gross breach of trust on the part of one 

 of the officials, an entirely new method of 

 handling these reports is being devised, 

 which he believes makes it practically im- 

 possible for such another breach of con- 

 fidence to occur. He reports the prompt 

 dismissal of the culpable official and the 

 transfer of the whole matter to the Depart- 

 ment of Justice, with a view to the prosecu- 

 tion of the guilty party. He expresses re- 

 gret that while the department handled 

 the case of its own official with vigor and 

 promptness, no corresponding action has 

 so far reached the traders' end of the line. 



Where gamblers interested neither in produc- 

 tion nor in consumption disturb values to the 

 injury of both and make loud outcry when crea- 

 tures of their kind bribe officials to betray con- 

 fidence for the love of money, the responsibility 

 for this leak is shared by every one who to get 

 money without work gambles in farm products, 

 When this form of industry ceases, he adds, these 



parasites Avho tempt department officials will 

 liave to work for their bread. 



He reports the assignment of Assistant 

 Secretary Hays to take charge of the work 

 of the Bureau of Statistics for the present. 



Of the Division of Foreign Markets, the 

 secretary says one of its useful lines of in- 

 vestigation in behalf of exporters has been 

 an examination of conditions found in 

 countries which have a surplus in certain 

 agricultural products which meet those of 

 this country in common markets. Another 

 useful undertaking has been to ascertain in 

 detail the quantities and values of the agri- 

 cultural imports of countries receiving a 

 large share of such imports from the 

 United States. In regard to the possibility 

 of a foreign cotton competition, the in- 

 quiries of the department do not reveal 

 that it has any reasonable immediate pros- 

 pects, and he believes that if such competi- 

 tion is to arise, it will be as the result of 

 years of effort and development. Most of 

 the countries wherein a new production is 

 admitted, moreover, produce a non-com- 

 peting variety like the Egyptian. 



Of the library the secretary reports the 

 present quarters to be inadequate for hous- 

 ing its collection of 87,000 bocks and 

 pamphlets. In addition to space for this 

 valuable possession of the department, the 

 protection from fire is an 'urgent need. 

 Such protection he anticipates will soon 

 be provided by the new building. The 

 library is found available for information 

 to be given in response to inquiries from 

 all parts of the country, and much valuable 

 material is added to its files through the 

 foreign exchange system. 



The work of the Office of Public Roads 

 is primarily educational' in character. Its 

 province is to detail experts to give infor- 

 mation and advice. In many communities 

 it is found advisable to supplement advice 

 by practical demonstration of effective 

 road building. The total number of ex- 



