THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
129 
^foveriiinent to j)()life business elhies. The trades ean 
do these things better. For the govermneid sueh inter¬ 
vention means the further estahlislinient of hureaueraey, 
and one of the most dominant notes of all governmental 
hureaeraey is to grab something more, some new fune- 
tion. ond we ean all he sure that those sections of the 
trade that have been contemplating federal control in 
these particulars would soon find such control expand¬ 
ing far beyond the point of starting. The inetlicieney of 
bureaucracy in the conduct of business needs no com¬ 
ment from me. It is inherent in the nature of the situa¬ 
tion. The only hope of good government is to keep gov¬ 
ernmental functions down to a minimum.” 
Following our experience with the F;'if. B., we can 
certainly agree with Secretary Hoover’s view that “we 
would soon find federal control expanding far hcyorid 
the point of starting.” 
LEGISLATION 
To Exerulive CoounUtee and Members of the Ameri¬ 
can Association of Nnrserijnum, Seedsmen and others 
who may he interested-. 
Dear Sirs; 
The enclosed cojiy of my letter to Bepresentative 
Paige is for your information and immediate action in 
(Congress as your t)est judgment dictates. 
At least get copies of the following hilfj and compare 
them with present parcel-post rates: 
H. R. 6650 introduced by Representative Calvin D. Paige, of 
Massachusetts, to “Readjust the postage rates on ordinary in¬ 
sured and collect-on-delivery domestic parcel-post mail matter.” 
H. R. 7016 introduced by Representative Calvin D. Paige, of 
Massachusetts, to “Reclassify salaries of postmasters and em¬ 
ployees of the Postal Service, etc.” 
H. R. 8437 introduced by Representative M. Clyde Kelly, of 
Pennsylvania, for “The consolidation of third and fourth class 
mail and prescribing rates therefor.” 
Also you should know about the following: i 
H. R. 8347 introduced by Representative Gilbert N. Haugen, 
of Iowa, to “Amend sections 7 and 10 of the Plant Quarantine 
Act, etc.” 
Also note thal on April 4, 1924, the presidcnl, pro Icm, 
of the Senate (Cummins) laid before the Senate a reso¬ 
lution from the Legislature of Iowa which was referred 
to the Senate Committee of Agriculture and Forestry, in 
brief as follows; “Resolved by the Senate that the Gen¬ 
eral Assembly of Iowa resiiectfully urges upon Congress 
the enactment of an efiicient national juire seed law 
which will supplement existing State legislation ujion 
the same subject.” 
All honest nurserymen want fair laws to jiiotect the 
honest nurseryman and make it possible to put the crook 
out of business. But there’s too much legislation, much 
of it badly drawn, which will not accomjilish good hut 
do great harm. Please watch national and stale legisla¬ 
tion in your own intrests, and for the good of Horticul¬ 
ture at large, and act. 
\ ours very truly, 
IhvRLAN P. Kelsey, 
• President. 
April 8, 1924. 
Honorable Calvin D. Paige, 
House of Representatives, 
Washington, District of Columbia. 
My Dear Mr. Paige: 
My attention has been called to two Bills you have recently 
introduced in the House on Postal matters, namely, H. R. 6650 
and H. R. 7016. 
It seems that both of these Bills carry provisions for a 70-80% 
increase in the rates of parcel-post material. Naturally the 
National Nurserymen’s Association which I represent is 
greatly interested in this matter and I believe would strenu¬ 
ously oppose this legislation. 
It must be borne in mind that ultimately it is not the thous¬ 
ands of mail order houses that will pay this increased postage 
bill but it will be largely paid by the farmer. Speaking per¬ 
sonally, I believe that if such a bill carrying this increased 
postage is enacted by this Congress, that it would be almost 
a death blow to the Republican party in the next election. 
Of course we all realize that income must be produced from 
some source, but the parcel-post is extremely popular and is of 
course a vast benefit to the people living in rural districts. It 
could hardly be shown otherwise than that such legislation is 
directly in the interests of the Express Companies which would 
naturally expect to get an increased amount of business from 
those who had stopped shipping by parcel-post and that event¬ 
ually it would be a natural pretext for the Express Companies 
asking for an increase in their rates, and so the merry game goes 
on with the ultimate consumer paying the bill. 
May 1 ask that you will give this matter your most careful 
consideration and write me in the premises so that I may be 
put straight in this matter if I am in error in my diagnosis of 
the case? 
Yours truly, 
IIarl.ln P. Kelsey, President. 
THE PARCEL POST BATES 
Major Lloyd C. Stark, of Stark Brothers Nurseries, 
has been very active in his efforts to prevent the passage 
of a hill, which would so much increase the Parcel Post 
Rates. Mr. Stark calls attention to the fact that an in¬ 
crease in the Parcel Post rates is simply an additional 
indirect tax on the farmer and seems to he directly op¬ 
posed to the general tendency of Legislature, which is 
aimed at giving the relief to the farmer, who has heen 
seveiiy hit hy the economic conditions of the last sev¬ 
eral years. 
The Hon. Clarence Cannon, of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives. writing to Mr. Stark, is very ])essimistic 
about preventing the passage ol the hill. Mr. Cannon 
states: 
“I have never had but one opinion on this proiiosition. 
The parcel jiost is the jioor man’s exjiress and I would 
be willing to make most any sacrifice in other directions 
rather than see an increase in rates for this service. 
“However. I regret to say that the outlook is ominous. 
The magazines command such a tremenduous intluencc 
here in the House, and there is such a pressure for in¬ 
crease in Departmental expenses that it looks veiy much 
as if the committeiL in the absence of any other source 
of increased revenue, would recommend an advance in 
parcel post rates. 
“I am out of syinjiathy with any such projiosal. and 
shall oppose it at every opportunity but in my oiiinion 
such an increase will have such support both in the com¬ 
mittee and on the lloor as to render its enactment highly 
probable. The bill will jirobably be reported out the 
latter part of April, and there is time for a change of 
sentiment, but I am giving you the situation as it stands 
at present.” 
