No. 7. DEPARTilEXT OF AGRICULTURE. 317 



WHAT CONSTITUTES A GOOD COUNTY CHAIRMAN OF 



INSTITUTES 



By HOX. HOWARD G. McGOWAN, Geiger's MilU, Pa. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: Judging from the subject 

 announced by our worth}^ Chairman, Dr. Conard, you might suppose 

 that I possess some secret and that I would have the audacity to 

 come across the State, from east to west, to relate it here. Such 

 is not the case. Just why I have been chosen to speak upon this 

 subject by Director Martin, I am unable to understand, because I 

 have had failure as well as success. The first institute that I held, 

 when we had with us the Hon. John A. Woodward, my friend Mr. 

 Lighty, — I see he is jjresent here — Enos H. Hess, of Lancaster, all 

 grand good men, with elegant subjects, but the Institute was a fail- 

 ure on account of the poor arrangements by the County Chairman of 

 the Institute — and that was myself. That is one of the failures. 



To be successful, we must incorporate or inaugurate the individual 

 interests of the people where the particular institute is to be held. 

 Now what I mean by this is, take it in a political sense, — I am not 

 making a political speech. I cannot if I want to. But if we are 

 candidates for office we cannot elect ourselves. We must incorporate 

 an interest or have the people with us. So it is likewise with the 

 successful Farmers' Institute. We must incorporate an interest 

 in the place by the people where the institute is held. Let me illus- 

 trate: In passing over our county but recently there was a candi- 

 date for office who had tacked his cards upon trees, upon poles, and 

 upon buildings, and I said to a gentleman: "Mr. Smith is a candi- 

 date for such office." He said: ''I don't know. I did not see him." 

 Next day I passed over another part of our county and I said to 

 another gentlemen: "Mr. Smith is a condidate for such an office." 

 He said: "I can't tell you." "Why," I said "his picture, his card, 

 is tacked upon poles, upon large trees and buildings and all that." He 

 said: "Oh, yes; he passed through here but didn't say anything to me 

 nor to any one in particular." 



Now we will take that along with our Farmer's Institute work. Sup- 

 pose a County Chairman is making arrangements for his institute. 

 He takes his bills and he tacks them up; perhaps sends them around 

 to one or two people in that neighborhood or community saying that 

 we will hold a Farmers' Institute in such a place and will guarantee 

 you that that institute will be an absolute failure, just as well as I 

 will wager a pint of peanuts that that candidate will come out at the 

 little end of the horn for his office. 



Now what constitutes a good county chairman of institutes, in my 

 opinion, is the man who will do things. That is, a man who will 

 do things when he cannot get anybody else to do them. The good 

 county chairman must be or should be the power behind the throne 



