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Whereas the first harvest gave the Pilgrims food for their second winter, for their second sowing, plus a supply to send to London as payment on their debt for the Mayflower crossing and to purchase needed supplies; and

Whereas this shipment of golden seed became the first export from the present United States, bullion soon to become greater in value than all the gold and emeralds wrested from the Indians; and

Whereas this same golden fruitage traveled in saddlebags, in prairie schooners, in oxcarts, in hollowed log boats as the pioneers moved ever westward, building settlements that became colonies, and colonies that became this mighty Nation; and

Whereas today, from early spring until the end of harvest days each year, corn marches in regimental rows, mile on mile, across plains, down valleys, up mountain sides, from the eastern ocean to the western coast, providing for the Nation; and Whereas corn and its myriad products are with us all our waking hours-from cream in the morning coffee, bacon, ham, eggs, butter, cereals, and corn sirup at breakfast, through every meal throughout the day and throughout the country; in the pages in ledgers in businesses offices, in the ink used on the pages, in bakeries, apothecary shops, laundries, factories, and in military supplies for the defense of its native land; and

Whereas statistics testify to the fabulous value of corn in the economy of our Nation; and

Whereas with the rapid multiplying of the people on the earth, corn will become increasingly needful, increasingly priceless; and

Whereas our native grain is as characteristic of our land, as significant and distinctive as our flag, and as necessary to and as much a part of our Nation, our people, and our high standard of living, as the air we breathe, the good earth, the bountiful sunshine: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the corn tassel is hereby designated and adopted as the national floral emblem of the United States, and the President is requested to declare such fact by proclamation.

Mr. JUDD. That is correct.

Mr. Chairman, this matter was first brought to my attention by a lady who lives in my district, and who, because of certain things in her background became interested in the corn tassel years ago. She is here today. I hope eventually it will also be possible for her to testify.

When she first proposed to me that the corn tassel be chosen as our national floral emblem, my first thought was the one that has been mentioned already by Judge Davis. After all, we don't think of the corn tassel as a flower. I was born in the State of Nebraska, which is called the Cornhusker State. I was brought up in the cornfields. I know the tassel is the male element of the corn and the corn silk is the female element. The tassel is the pollinating element that fertilizes the female element whereas in the ordinary flower the pistil and stamen are together in one bud. So, while technically the tassel is a flower, I didn't think of it that way, for the reasons that the judge has given. It is not the sort of thing we generally put in a bouquet. But then I got to thinking, what do we want as a floral emblem? Do we want just a beautiful flower or do we want a significant symbol? The emblem on our seal, the eagle, is not just a bird. It is a symbol of certain qualities that we believe characterize our country and our people.

There are many countries that have floral emblems that are not flowers. Canada does not have a flower. It has the maple leaf. Ireland doesn't have a flower, it has the shamrock. Scotland does not have a flower, it has the thistle. In each case it is a portion of a plant that is distinctive for that country. It is characteristic of and has meaning for that country. That is, it is a genuine symbol.

I cannot think of anything unique that the rose is a symbol of as far as the United States is concerned. That is demonstrated by the fact that seven other countries already have it. There is nothing distinctive about it for America. It is beautiful, it is fragrant, and all of us love it, but what possible special meaning can it have for the United States?

For England, which properly has the rose as its national flower, it has meaning. They had the War of Roses, and many other things in their history are tied up with the rose. But it has no significant place, nor any other flower, in our history that can compare with the plant we suggest which does meet all the qualifications that we would ask for.

First, as the junior chamber of commerce of my State said in a resolution, which was adopted 2 years ago:

The selection of a national floral emblem for our Nation should be based on these factors:

1. It should be of American origin, born of the Western World and found nowhere else.

This is where corn was born. It was first found here by Columbus and taken back to Europe by him.

2. It must have its roots in every State of the Union.

Corn is grown and is an important economic factor in every State of the Union. So far as I can find, it is the only such plant.

3. It should serve the Nation and have served it well from the first landing of the settlers in New England and Virginia, to the present moment.

Again, only corn qualifies. It is worth pausing to remember that when the Pilgrims landed and were without enough food for the winter, they discovered a cache of corn on what today in Plymouth is called Corn Hill.

Their descendants have erected a beautiful marble monument there on which Brewster's words, 1 think, taken from his diary are engraved: And surely it was God's good providence that we found this corn or else we know not what we should have done.

They would have starved to death.

Even before the Pilgrims it was distinctive of this land, and belonged uniquely to it. It was the mainstay of the diet of the Indians. They called it maize, which was their word for mother. From before the time the white man came, corn was identified with this continent, this land, as almost no flower or plant in history is identified, peculiarly, especially, uniquely, distinctively, with a given country.

Then the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota said:

4. It should not only be a flower of beauty, but possess the rare quality of practicality and productivity; and

5. Its choice as a national floral emblem should be based on gratitude for what it has been, is, and always will be to the people of the United States, a veritable symbol of this Nation.

So, Mr. Chairman, the more I thought about this proposal, the more it made sense. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I was unable to find any other plant or flower that did make sense in such a unique way.

Hence I think we have two questions:

1. Should America, after the 182 years of our independent existence, choose at this time a national floral emblem?

We haven't had one. We have done pretty well. I do not think it is a matter of life and death. On the other hand, most countries have chosen national floral emblems, and if there is a flower that in a peculiar and unique way characterizes our country and is a true symbol of our country and our people from the beginning to the present, then it seems to me a very worthwhile thing to do.

2. If a decision is made that we ought to adopt a national floral emblem, the next question is, What should we choose to be the national floral emblem of the United States?

If a decision is made to have one, I believe that the the more thè committee studies the matter, the more it too will become convinced that the corn tassel is, one almost might say, sent from heaven as the proper choice, in the sense that it is so extraordinarily characteristic of our country. It has played such an important role in our whole history, it plays such an important role in our national life today.

Some mention has been made of the value of the rose industry in one of the States amounting to several million dollars a year. I should like, Mr. Chairman, to have included with my remarks a table of the bushels of corn that are raised in each of the 48 States in 1957. Total production was 3,402,832,000 bushels, and if you figure that at more than a dollar a bushel, it is not a few millions, it is some $4 billion. That is the original value of the corn itself to the farmers. Then when you consider the products processed from it, what it becomes in hogs, and that means our ham and bacon; and what it becomes in chickens and eggs and what it becomes in corn syrup, and what it becomes in adhesives used in our industries; and what it becomes in the corn starch used in the laundries-how many more billions. When you go down the long list of roles that corn plays in the history, and in the economy and in the industry, and in the diet, and in the health of our country, it really becomes a fabulous imaginationstretching experience. You wonder why nobody thought of this before.

Fortunately Miss Cairns has sort of made it her lifework, primarily, out of a sense of gratitude, for what this plant has done for our people and our country. She has mobilized all these facts of which I have quoted a few, and she has written a great deal about it.

The more one thinks about it, the more it becomes an almost inescapable conclusion that we ought to adopt this floral emblem in gratitude that we do have such a plant as corn and that its tassel is so uniquely a suitable symbol, and therefore, a proper national emblem of our past, of our present, and of almost everything that is American. I was talking about this to one of my friends, and he said "Yes, and we see and listen to corn all day over the television."

I would like to make one more point: I come from a great corn area, and all people who have been brought up in the corn country of America will agree the corn tassel is a thing of great beauty. I don't know of anything that is more thrilling than to come over a hill and look out over fields of tasseling corn. It is an inspiring scene visible in every State in our Union, and if you take a picture of a corn tassel with a leaf or two of the corn in the picture, that, too, is a thing of beauty.

I must say one further word, Mr. Chairman, before I stop. My friend, Judge Davis, has spoken about the florist industry. I have seen its ads for the rose in This Week. Obviously the florists and

nurseries have taken it over and started a nationwide drive, to have it adopted.

I may tell you that early in the crusade being carried on by Miss Cairns, some of the corn interests in our part of the country, such as nurseries, hybrid seed corn, corn-sirup people, approached her and offered to underwrite financially some of her efforts. I advised against it. She, with a purity of motive which is most commendable, resisted it. She would not allow this to be commercialized and have it promoted in the usual Madison Avenue way which we see so often in America. She believed her cause would win because of its inherent worth, when it was presented to enough people. When I saw all these ads for the rose sponsored by the flower industry I almost wondered whether we had not made a mistake. Perhaps she should have accepted the corn people's offer. Because if it is a choice between the corn industry in this country and the rose industry, the rose people haven't got a chance.

So, if there hasn't been a campaign and a crusade and a lot of advertising and displays and questionnaires, et cetera, for corn, it is because Miss Cairns was determined, and I supported her in it, to keep this proposal on a basis that would appeal to the people of America solely on its merits and not have a great ballyhoo campaign like selling a commercial product.

That is about my story, Mr. Chairman. I hope that in a little while you will let Miss Cairns tell you hers in a much better way than I can.

Now I would like, if I may, to include with my remarks this resolution by the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota from which I quoted.

Mr. JONES. Without objection that will be included.

(The resolution follows:)

RESOLUTION

Whereas it is so right that at long last an interest has been awakened in the United States in the need of selecting a national floral emblem; and

Whereas nearly every other nation has made such a choice, a choice based upon reason a historic event, a spiritual or religious inspiration or from a deep sense of gratitude; and

Whereas the selection of a national floral emblem for our Nation should be based on these

1. It should be of American origin, born of the Western World and found nowhere else.

2. It must have its roots in every State of the Union.

3. It must serve the Nation, and have served it well from the first landings of settlers in New England and Virginia to the present moment.

4. It must not alone be a flower of beauty, but possess the rare quality of practicality and productivity.

5. Its choice as a national floral emblem should be based on gratitude for what it has been, is, and always will be to the people of the United Statesa veritable symbol of this Nation.

Whereas the question is asked, What flower can fill these ardent demands of reason?; and

Whereas the question is easily answered when consideration is given to making the tassel of our corn plant the national floral emblem, for the following reasons: 1. Corn is a native plant of America.

2. Corn is raised in every State in the Union.

3. According to Donald C. Spaulding, writing in the Nation's Business, "corn is our largest and oldest crop-besides being the most valuable. Next to the air we breathe, probably no other substance is so intimately connected with our daily living *** from the cradle to the grave. This vital relationship began with our Founding Fathers, continuing through the centuries."

4. Corn is the basis of America's economy, the foundation of this Nation's material greatness. Through its countless by products, it is lifting our standard of living to a height never before known to man, filling our national coffers with gold.

5. The waving acres of maize on a summer day constitute one of the truly dramatic spectacles of our American way of life-a veritable symbol of our Nation; and

Whereas it is fully recognized here that Miss Margo Cairns, a resident of Minnesota, started this movement to make the tassel of corn to be our national flower about a year ago; and

Whereas it is also recognized here that many government and civic leaders have indicated their interest and support in this movement to make the tassel of our corn plant our national floral emblem; and

Whereas the Junior Chamber of Commerce of Minnesota can give this movement the kind of momentum it needs to win approval by our national organization and by the Congress of the United States; therefore be it

Resolved, That the Minnesota Junior Chamber go on record and endorse the tassel of the corn plant as the floral emblem for the United States of America. Mr. JUDD. Also a resolution by the Minnesota Federation of Women's Clubs adopted May 15, 1958. It is just a short resolution. Mr. JONES. Without objection it will be included also.

Mr. JUDD. I should like to have included in the body of my remarks where I referred to it, this table showing the bushels of corn grown in each State in our Union in the year 1957. This table [indicating].

I should also like to have included a statement that was issued last September by Mr. Byron G. Allen, State commissioner of agriculture of my State. He and I are not on the same political side of the fence, but he became interested in this, as I did, and he wrote a very eloquent tribute to Miss Cairns, and to the merits of the corn tassel as a true symbol of America, and therefore deserving to be chosen as our national floral emblem.

(The various documents referred to follow:)

THE CORN TASSEL AS THE NATIONAL FLORAL EMBLEM

The following resolution was adopted by the delegate body of the Minnesota Federation of Women's Clubs in convention assembled May 15, 1958 in Minneapolis:

"Whereas most nations have a floral emblem to be recognized as their national symbol, while our country has made no such choice; and

"Whereas corn is native to our United States, is characteristic of our land, is grown in every State, was cultivated originally by the Indians here, continued by the farmers to become the most widely cultivated food crop of the world; and "Whereas corn kept alive our Pilgrims through perilous winters and was sent by them to England to pay for their Mayflower crossing; and

"Whereas the corn tassel has a glory all its own, blooming through many weeks, then to live again in seed which became the first export from our present United States; and

"Therefore, we hereby resolve, That in gratitude we should honor corn, the genesis of our history, our agriculture, our economy, by adopting for our national flower, the corn tassel.'

FOR RELEASE SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1957

Two years ago an enthusiastic lady called at my office. She was on a crusade. Her vision was to honor agriculture and the history of our Nation by requesting Congress to adopt the corn tassel as our national floral emblem.

The lady was Miss Margo Cairns, of Minneapolis. She explained that practically every major nation has an emblem, a choice based on gratitude, but that the United States has never made such a choice although it owes an everlasting debt to our native plant, maize or corn.

29322-58--3

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