10 HEARINGS BEFORE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE. 
anterior legislation of the Congress with reference to similar matters, 
as closely as this legislation could follow that. For instance, a thorough 
investigation was made of the different acts with reference to the 
Bureau of Animal Industry, with reference to the foot-and-mouth 
disease bill that was passed at the last Congress, and to the extent that 
this subject admitted of the phraseology of those acts it was followed 
in this bill. Several sections of the bill are verbatim copies of the 
sections in the act creating the Bureau of Animal Industry—the last 
one and part of the third one—and I wish now briefly to discuss the 
bill by sections. It is composed of four sections. The first section 
reads as follows: F 
That the Secretary of Agriculture shall organize in his Department a cotton com- 
mission, to consist of the chief of the Bureau of Plant Industry, the chief of the 
Bureau of Entomology, and three practical men familiar with cotton growing, two 
residents of the State of Texas and one of the State of Louisiana. The duties of said 
commission shall be to prepare and execute, under the direction of the Secretary of 
Agriculture, such plans for lessening the damage caused by, and controlling the 
spread of, the Mexican cotton-boll weevil and other insects and diseases injurious to 
cotton as the Secretary of Agriculture may deem best. 
You will note that that section creates and defines the powers of the 
commission, all being subject to the absolute control and direction of 
the Secretary of Agriculture, as his best judgment may dictate. The 
number of avenues by which possible good may be brought to the 
people suffering from this pest are such that we conceive no way except 
passing legislation’ to invest extreme—absolute, if you will—power in 
the Cabinet officer of our nation who has these matters in charge, as 
you would with reference to quarantine; as we did with reference to 
the foot-and-mouth disease; as we did with reference to infectious 
diseases of the Bureau of Animal Industry. To do less than that 
would only be to possibly hamper practical and sensible business 
results, and we deemed it better to go the full length in the matter 
and trust the Secretary of Agriculture absolutely with reference to 
the work to be done and the money to be expended than to attempt, 
by any matter of detail, to put any limitations upon his power which 
we deemed would be injurious to practical, beneficial results. 
Section 2 provides: 
That in furtherance of the purposes of this act ther i 
of the Treasury of the United tates from any one) Dep Eree 
the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars 
of which shall be immediately available, which shall be denominated the “Cotton 
- fund,”’ and which shall be exclusively applied to the purposes of this act and in the 
expenditure of which the Secretary of Agriculture shall have plenary and exclusive 
powers, as he may deem best, to accomplish the purposes of this act. 
You will note that that practically gives the same unlimited power 
with reference to the expenditure of this fund by the Secretary of 
Agriculture as the first section gives with reference to the creation 
and management of the temporary commission; because we have no 
idea, frankly, gentlemen, of creating any permanent cotton commis- 
sion—none on earth. We never expect to urge any such idea as that 
but we urge it simply to meet the impending and threatening and ter- 
rible danger that afflicts us, and when the purpose of it shall be accom- 
plished of course the thing will fall to the ground, as was the case in 
the foot-and-mouth disease bill. 
