THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
238 
BUREAUCRACY BORN IN GERMANY 
Extracts From Monthly Letter of The American Ex¬ 
change National Bank, of New York, August 1, 
Taken By Mr. J. C. Vaughan, the Dean of the 
Nursery Trade, Who Thinks They Are 
Especially Applicable to Our Business 
The principle of regulation lias attracted a large fol¬ 
lowing of aspirants for the role of regulators, who, hav¬ 
ing adopted the profession, are loath to give if up. Those 
who follow this profession and who constantly strive for 
(he development of regulation are becoming known to 
us as bureaucrats. The profession was born in Germany 
and is an outgrowth of the politico-economic develop¬ 
ment that was peculiar to that country before the war. 
Bureaucracy has won a foothold in other European coun¬ 
tries, England excepted. Regardless of what may he 
thought of German pre-war political and industrial tend¬ 
encies, it is certainly safe to say that in this country they 
could not be considered as anything but wholly foreign. 
Nevertheless, some of our economists and political theo¬ 
rists were greatly influenced by German economic 
thought at one time, and it is easy to trace the source of 
the entire theory and practice of regulation as it is known 
to us. The conflict between these imported theories and 
our own never occurred to those who espouse them. Our 
instinctive alarm at every manifestation of regulation 
and control shows that, so far as we in this country are 
concerned, these things are “opposed to nature.” We 
have developed along different lines from those followed 
in Germany; we inherited and have always cherished 
the ideal of individual freedom. 
In order to escape governmental regulation, industry 
and business apparently must prove that they are capable 
of self-regulation. Fraudulent use of the business ma¬ 
chinery by the pirates who prey upon honest traders 
does not arouse sympathy for the victims; on the con¬ 
trary. such practices are often accepted as proof that the 
entire business organization is dishonest and not to be 
trusted. This view of American business is ASSID¬ 
UOUSLY CULTIVATED IN TIIE PUBLIC MIND BY 
THE ADVOCATES OF REGULATION. Thev do not con- 
1/ 
tend that regulation will accelerate progress—they 
merely say that in their private capacities business men 
cannot be trusted to deal in accordance with a good con¬ 
science if self-interest points a contrary course. This, of 
course, is simply calumny—the abiding place of honesty 
is not fixed by trades and professions (who would 
regulate crooked bureaucrats—Ed ) nor is it true that 
success in business is won by sharp practices. The idea 
that business is conducted in accordance with the rules 
which governed fictional horse trades in the days of 
David Ha rum was never wholly true, and is less so now 
than ever. Those who masquerade as honest business 
men for the purpose of cloaking criminal operations are 
gradually being unmasked, and it is perhaps not too 
much to hope that public opinion will some day be able 
to make the proper distinctions between honest and 
fraudulent business. The task of eliminating the con¬ 
fidence men and other crooks, who prey on business it¬ 
self more than on the public, belongs to the business men 
of tlie country, and they are not shirking it. Most of the 
exposures which have recently come to light have re¬ 
sulted from the activeness of business organizations 
which have assumed the task of eliminating the com¬ 
mercial crook. These efforts on the part of responsible 
business towards reforms have not received the recog¬ 
nition to which they are entitled. Those who are inter¬ 
ested in the destruction of the existing order, or who seek 
political preferment by claiming credit for the work of 
others, have attempted to tar all business with the same 
stick. Prejudices have been cultivated in the interest of 
pet panaceas, and wild plans for the regulation of every¬ 
thing and everybody. These tastics are more likely to 
hinder than they are likely to help the reforms that are 
being undertaken. No rules and regulations can be made 
crook-proof, although rules and regulations directed at 
crooks may easily hamper legitimate business. The only 
regulation that will get results is self-regulation. Ex¬ 
posure of the tactics employed by the crooks enable the 
public and honest business to guard against imposition. 
Increasing costs of government, largely as a result of 
the growth of bureaucracy, present another cause for 
concern in connection with the development of the idea 
of regulation. Ex-Senator Beveridge declares that we 
now have one governmental employee, counting city, 
state and national employees, for every twenty inhabi¬ 
tants. That would mean, among other things, that about 
5 per cent of the inhabitants of the country in the employ 
of the various arms of government are in control of the 
spending of 16 per cent, of the gross income of the nation. 
The machinery of regulation is wholly parasitical, 
regulation for the most part being nothing more than 
super-management imposed upon industry, which, under 
our concept of government, is assumed to be capable of 
self-management. 
PROHIBITION ON IMPORTS OF FRUITS AND 
VEGETABLES 
The Federal Horticultural Board has placed a quaran¬ 
tine on all fruits and vegetables from foreign countries 
into the United States to go into effect on and after No¬ 
vember 1st, 1923. 
This measure is taken to prevent the introduction of 
injurious fruit and melon flies. 
While this action may work a hardship to some lines 
of business, it is consistant and in harmony with those 
quarantines relating to plants. 
Bountiful Ridge Farm and Nurseries has been started 
on the Maryland Peninsula at Princess Anne, Maryland. 
The business is owned by Mrs. E. L. Kemp and under 
the management of her two sons, Edgar II. Kemp and 
Homer S. Kemp, with an expert propagator. 
The aim of this concern is to establish a national repu¬ 
tation for growing and marketing trees, vines and plants 
absolutely true to name. It has already a fine lot of 
two year apple trees of leading varieties, also a splendid 
lot of one year old apples. These trees have been pro¬ 
pagated from bearing orchard trees of known genuine¬ 
ness. Although starting in the business in the spring 
of 1922 the stock of 100,000 trees are growing on the 
nurseries of which 30.000 are now ready for market. 
