122 Missouri Agricultural Report. 



A SHEEPMAN'S EXPERIENCE IN THE MISSOURI LEGIS- 

 LATURE. 



(Hon. H. R. Brasfleld, Unionville, Mo. 

 MORE SHEEP OR MORE DOGS — WHICH? 



If any one thinks it is an easy matter to get a dog law through 

 the Missouri Legislature, he is sadly mistaken. 



The committee to which the bill for a dog law was referred 

 consisted of seventeen members. I had made a considerable can- 

 vass among them and felt discouraged and called for help from 

 Brothers Carroll and Boles, but when the committee met that night 

 for a hearing on the bill there were only nine members present. 

 After some good talking by Mr. Carroll, Brother Boles took the 

 floor, and in his convincing way told the committee the importance 

 of the law. One of the committee said to Mr. Boles, "If you men 

 want to raise sheep, why don't you fence against the dogs?" Well, 

 you could see the hair on the top of 'Mr. Boles' head rise and turn 

 red and his eloquence grew loud and strong. He failed to convince 

 that member enough to get his vote at that meeting, but we did 

 get it at the final vote and got twelve out of the seventeen on the 

 committee. There were a number of members who wanted to vote 

 for the bill, but were afraid to vote either way, so made a sneak 

 and had business of importance (?) in some other place when the 

 vote was taken. At that committee meeting we got five votes from 

 the nine members present. I learned later on that we got all the 

 votes that we could have gotten from that committee that night — 

 our work had just begun. 



DOG-INSPIRED ELOQUENCE. 



I have had quoted to me during this dog law fight every "dog 

 poem" and every great and famous "dog speech," I think, that has 

 ever been made; and one could have heard more dog oratory in 

 both House and Senate than any one could imagine could be pro- 

 duced on that subject. To hear the arguments produced, you would 

 think this great State of ours could not exist without dogs; the 

 business of the merchants, farmers and all would have to be sus- 

 pended if the law passed. I heard one representative say he would 

 not vote for it if every man in his county would ask him to do so. 

 (And I was glad to see that his county was one of the first to 

 adopt this law.) I heard two senators say it was an outrage on 



