I thought what a remarkably fine idea, but how impossible of accomplishment. I enjoyed the call, but thought no more about it until newspaper stories, magazine articles, and editorials began appearing at my home and on my desk.

To my astonishment, Miss Cairns, without any fanfare, had quietly carried her message across the country, to the farmer, to women's clubs, to thoughtful people everywhere, even to top Government officials. Her idea and her approach

have touched America's heart.

In the past few months, the corn tassel national floral emblem idea has been passed by the Legislatures of Minnesota and Illinois. Two joint resolutions, one by Congressman Walter Judd (Minnesota), the other by Senator Paul Douglas (Illinois), have gone to Congress.

I am one of those who has a great admiration for the few dedicated people we have in this world who devote their time, physical, and financial resources to the promotion of a new idea, especially those worthy ideas which affect the outlook and thinking of our fellow citizens.

Miss Cairns is one of those dedicated people. During an illness in her teens Miss Cairns became interested in history and archeologic discoveries. In the course of her avid reading, she learned a great deal about the history of maize and has become intrigued with the great economic importance of this gift of the Western Hemisphere and the United States to the rest of the world.

Her campaign thus far has been a one-woman crusade. The harder she has worked on her project, the more deeply involved she has become, mentally and spiritually. Her devotion is so great that many of us are in awe of a person who can live with her project night and day.

Miss Cairns emphasizes on all occasions an important fact-that maize or corn is 40,000 years older than any political party. We agree with her. I happen to be a member of the Democratic Party and one of the Democratic officials in Minnesota. One of my colleagues in State government is Mr. Val Bjornson, our Republican State treasurer. We have worked closely with Miss Cairns trying help and encourage her in her great effort.

There is great spiritual strength to be gained by the American people if they come to a full and complete appreciation of the contribution that corn has made in our national life and the economy of the world. It takes a crusader like Miss Cairns to give the campaign this spiritual uplift. I trust that Minnesotans will back her wholeheartedly in her efforts.

BYRON G. ALLEN,

State Commissioner of Agriculture.

Mr. JUDD. I think that is all I have to say now, unless there are some questions you would care to ask.

Mr. JONES. Do you have any questions?

(No response.)

Mr. JONES. Thank you for your presentation.

I notice Congressman Scott has just come in. He is the author of House Joint Resolution 514. Would you care to make a statement at this time, Congressman Scott?

STATEMENT OF HON. HUGH SCOTT, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mr. SCOTT. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

I believe it is known that I have introduced such a joint resolution, and following introduction of this resolution there was a great deal of interest shown by garden clubs, rosegrowers, horticulturalists, various groups, and associations. Not only in my own area, but throughout the country in southeastern Pennsylvania, are grown some of the finest roses in the country.

There are other sections of my State which are also known for the quality of their roses.

I was asked on a number of occasions whether my resolution designated any particular color. Mr. Chairman, I have been down here 16 years now and I hope I am smart enough not to start a fight like that so I simply designated the rose, and I am in favor of anybody's color. I draw no color lines where roses are concerned, or anything else is concerned.

Mr. CORBETT. Mr. Chairman, may I ask the gentleman if he joins in Mr. Beckworth's statement in leaving this little problem to the judgment of the committee?

Mr. SCOTT. I would be glad to leave it to the judgment of the committee, and my own judgment of the judgment of the committee will result accordingly.

However, I am interested in the rose as a flower. It happens the Morris Arboretum, which is owned by the University of Pennsylvania, is across from my home. It is administered by its section on botany and horticulture. There are some of the finest specimens of roses grown, not only in this country, but anywhere in the world. As I am sure has already been said, the rose is the oldest flower known to man, and four States already honor the rose as their official flower-New York, Iowa, Georgia, and North Dakota, as well as the District of Columbia. The National Rose Week inaugurated in 1954 is now an official annual event.

I sincerely hope that action will be taken on some one or another of these resolutions. I don't believe I have anything else to say, except again to stress the fact that, while I have introduced resolutions on other subjects, I do not believe anything has occasioned quite the interest which this resolution has occasioned, and I want to thank the committee for hearing me at this time.

Mr. JONES. Thank you, Mr. Scott.

I think now we will hear from Mrs. Martin.

Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Chairman, if you would permit me another word. Mr. JONES. I certainly will.

Mr. DAVIS. In reference to Dr. Judd's statement, I have been an admirer of Dr. Judd ever since I have been in Washington. I have learned that he is most resourceful, and I think that he would have made a great reputation had he chosen law as his profession, as he has made a great reputation in the medical profession.

He is most persuasive in anything which he takes up. I think, however, that Dr. Judd this morning answered his own arguments. He says that, or he admits that the corn tassel is not a flower in the sense that we usually regard it, and he said that it should be adopted as an emblem.

Well, he has answered that argument also, I think, because we already have an emblem, as he mentioned, the eagle is the emblem of the United States, and to now adopt another emblem would be to divide the importance of the emblem which we have already taken. Mr. Chairman, it is a great pleasure and a high privilege for me to present to this committee this morning my constituent, Mrs. Chester Martin, of the city of Atlanta, Ga., who, as I stated at the outset, is the national garden chairman of the General Federation of Women's Clubs.

Mrs. Martin.

Mr. JONES. We are happy to have Mrs. Martin here as a representative of that great organization, and will be pleased to hear from her. STATEMENT OF MRS. CHESTER MARTIN, CHAIRMAN OF GARDEN DIVISION, GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS

Mrs. MARTIN. Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, just to show you how practical and how beautiful it would be if we choose the rose, I would like to call your attention to the flowers in this vase on the table. They were picked yesterday afternoon in my garden at Atlanta, and some of the varieties in this vase are Charlie Armstrong, Helen Traubel, Queen Elizabeth, all of which are pink. Then we have the beautiful Peace, Doubtless Love, Carousal, Radiance, Vogue, and others. They are beautiful and stood the trip well; don't you think?

The members of this committee have been most kind to answer my letters and to talk with me and answer questions about the rose. Judge Davis, I think, has been outstanding in his efforts to try to make the rose a national flower.

Mr. JONES. Judge Davis is always outstanding in anything he attempts.

Mr. DAVIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mrs. MARTIN. The United States is the only major country in the world without a national flower. I believe that love of country and love of gardening is arousing in every citizen of the United States the desire for a national flower.

The club women of America are especially aware of this need and voted unanimously at our June convention for the rose to become our national flower.

The gardens division of General Federation of Women's Clubs after much study thinks the rose is the first choice for the national flower of the United States, and feels that no specific color, variety or name be attached to the rose, just make the flower "the rose," and then the State and locality is free to use whatever bloom is most

popular in their particular area. Anyone, anywhere in America can plant and grow and enjoy roses. The rose is the finest expression of beauty that God and man can produce, and symbolizes peace, loyalty, love, devotion, and courage.

I remember, when I was a little girl, the rose that was the most outstanding one then was the Paul Meyron. Today you can not purchase that rose anywhere. Today I would say the Peace rose is the most outstanding. Can't you say by that that varieties come and go, and that we should in each community choose its own flower when it comes to color? We state it should be the rose.

In our 1958 convention we mingled with delegates from other lands. It was with pride that those from Switzerland spoke of their rose of the Alps; those from Austria spoke of their white lily; while those from Italy wore in their lapels ox-eye daisies. Not to be outdone, these petite women from France and their fleur-de-lis on exhibition; while Belgium provided its representatives with the red poppy as the insignia of the people who live there, and good old England pointed with pride to its club members who so proudly claim as their national flower one species of the rose.

Don't you see, that was following the War of Roses. They have just the one specie. That is not the rose as we know it today.

I did want to show you this poster that followed our convention. The poster indicates how much publicity and interest we had in the rose. These articles are from all over the country. This is from Chicago, here is New York, and this Atlanta, Minneapolis, et cetera. Then on the back of it is an introduction of a new rose, Miracle, that I think will be most outstanding.

On the back you will see that while Atlanta papers had a long editorial and took a stand on the national flower, which they chose as the flower, they took my picture holding a rose on the corn tassel.

Love of gardens has always served as an open sesame to people everywhere. There are flowers of peace, flowers of war, flowers of history, and flowers of hope.

It is said in the State of Oregon the rose was found some 30 or 40 million years ago. How far back do we need to go? The wild roses were found among the Indians when we came here.

Every subject of conversation is included in this group. So the women from this beautiful country of ours found an immediate fellowship with those from other lands through the happy medium of love of flowers. We found, too, that national flowers are rarely deliberately chosen. We found that they sprang from history, tradition, and living of the people. Ofttimes they represent the hopes and aspirations of a people, as the olive branch of the United Nations, of Israel. The birth, history, and struggle for survival and future of nations are often symbolized in a nation's chosen flower. Only one country-the United States has no national flower at all.

I believe one of the other gentlemen told the story about the shamrock, which holds its place in the hearts of the Irish because St. Patrick used it it illustrate the idea of the Holy Trinity. A ditch filled with thistles saved a fortress in Scotland from Danish invasionhence the thistle was adopted as the national emblem in gratitude for the escape. While marching to battle against an English army in the year 640, it is said Welsh soldiers placed leeks in their caps to distinguish themselves from the enemy. The Welsh won the battle, following which the leek was chosen as the national emblem of Wales.

One man said the other day, "You are really reaching for dreams in trying to make the rose a national flower." "I think it is spiritual," he said.

Certainly the choosing of national flowers represents the fulfillment of a country's heartfelt emotion and are examples of the character of its citizenry. Knowing this to be true, how better could we of this Nation of ours register our love for other nations, loyalty and devotion to our own, and courage to face the unpredictable future than by choosing as our national flower the beautiful rose? To this end the clubwomen of the General Federation of Women's Clubs urge their Senators and Representatives to support the joint resolutions (H. J. Res. 465 and S. J. Res. 23), which has been referred to the House Administration Committee, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, and see that we may join the other nations in claiming for our own a national flower. It is universally believed that the rose, which is the queen of flowers is a worthy symbol of the gallant American citizen. We urge your early and favorable consideration of this question. Mr. JONES. Thank you, Mrs. Martin.

Do you have any questions, Mr. Harrison?

Mr. HARRISON. No; thank you.

Mr. JONES. Thank you very much.

Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Chairman, Mrs. Martin asked that this also be made a part of her statement, this statement giving additional reasons, and then Mrs. Martin has some scrapbooks for the committee members.

Thank you very much for your kind attention.

Mr. JONES. Thank you. The additional statement of Mrs. Martin will be included in the record.

(The statement referred to follows:)

STATEMENT OF MRS. CHESTER E. MARTIN, CHAIRMAN OF GARDENS,
GENERAL FEDERATION OF WOMEN'S CLUBS

REASONS WHY ROSE IS FAVORED

It is no coincidence that the rose is the Nation's flower.

In the interest of adopting a national floral emblem, a recent poll conducted by a well-known professional organization showed that the rose was the Nation's choice by 78 percent.

Not only is it this country's favorite: since the dawn of history, it has been associated with mankind's many activities, becoming a symbol of perfection, elegance, and romance. It is a standard of judging life's most exquisite endowments, setting an exemplary pattern for all floral life.

No other flower covers

Charming attributes have endeared the rose to us all. such a wide range of soft, sparkling colors. According to the color classification chart adopted by the American Rose Society, there are four basic color groups. Within each group can be found numerous harmonizing colors.

The symmetrical form is pleasing to the eye and varies from pea-sized miniatures to the majestic exhibition flowers that may be seen in the local flower shows or in your garden.

Modern Rose IV, published by J. Horace MacFarland Co., names and describes over 6,000 varieties including 300 species. There is a type of rose to serve every situation and purpose.

The species for shrubbery plantings: climbers for wall, gates, trellises, and arbors; ramblers to cover unsightly banks, wall cascades, etc.; floribundas for flower borders, foundation plantings, hedges, and the like; the teas and hybrid teas for formal and informal beds.

There is one variety, widely used as understock for our grafted or budded roses, that is being used for more practical purposes, it is the multiflora species, advertised and sold as the Living Fence.