nsequence of those proceedings and increasing
complications, added to the default occurring on the 1st day of January,
1897, a condition will be presented at that date, so far as this company
is concerned, that must emphasize the mandate of the act of 1887 and
give to Executive duty under its provisions a more imperative aspect.
Therefore, unless Congress shall otherwise direct or shall have
previously determined upon a different solution of the problem, there
will hardly appear to exist any reason for delaying beyond the date of
the default above mentioned such Executive action as will promise to
subserve the public interests and save the Government from the loss
threatened by further inaction.

The Department of Agriculture is so intimately related to the welfare of
our people and the prosperity of our nation that it should constantly
receive the care and encouragement of the Government. From small
beginnings it has grown to be the center of agricultural intelligence
and the source of aid and encouragement to agricultural efforts. Large
sums of money are annually appropriated for the maintenance of this
Department, and it must be confessed that the legislation relating to it
has not always been directly in the interest of practical farming or
properly guarded against waste and extravagance. So far, however, as
public money has been appropriated fairly and sensibly to help those who
actually till the soil, no expenditure has been more profitably made or
more generally approved by the people.

Under the present management of the Department its usefulness has been
enhanced in every direction, and at the same time strict economy has
been enforced to the utmost extent permitted by Congressional action.
From the report of the Secretary it appears that through careful and
prudent financial management he has annually saved a large sum from his
appropriations, aggregating during his incumbency and up to the close
of the present fiscal year nearly one-fifth of the entire amount
appropriated. These results have been accomplished by a conscientious
study of the real needs of the farmer and such a regard for economy
as the genuine farmer ought to appreciate, supplemented by a rigid
adherence to civil-service methods in a Department which should be
conducted in the interest of agriculture instead of partisan politics.

The Secretary reports that the value of our exports of farm products
during the last fiscal year amounted to $57