STATE DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 393 



14. That we hereby tender our thanks to the distinguished visitors 

 from our neighboring states for the able assistance and splendid enter- 

 tainment and instruction they have rendered us. 



15. That we appreciate in the fullest and highest degree the very 

 valuable services rendered by the retiring Secretary of this Association 

 for the valuable assistance he has rendered in making this meeting a suc- 

 cess. 



16. That we recognize in our retiring President, Mr. Marple, the 

 principal force which has led and developed our Association out of 

 its wabbling infant condition and placed it upon the sound legs of healthy 

 youth where it is a potent factor in the life of the State. In our inability 

 to adequately express our deep appreciation for his invaluable services, 

 we thank him and hope we may have his attendance and advice at many 

 subsequent meetings. 



MISSOURI. 



(Hod. W. D. Vandiver, Superintendent State Insurance Department, Jefferson City, Mo.) 



I am proud of the fact that I am a Missourian. I have traveled a 

 little bit over the country. I have seen many of the other states of the 

 Union, and they are all grand and great — there is not a place between 

 the two oceans that a man cannot live and be happy, if he will behave 

 himself ; but I want to say in all candor, I believe there are more of the 

 necessities of human comfort and happiness to be found between Iowa 

 and Arkansas and between the Mississippi river and Kansas than in any 

 other equal area beneath the shining sun. 



They tell us that during the presidency of Jefferson . he paid Napo- 

 leon fifteen millions of dollars for the Louisiana Purchase. Now Mis- 

 souri is only one of the thirteen states and two territories carved out of 

 that great area ; and I want to tell you that, although that seems like an 

 immense sum of money, last year alone the single State of Missouri paid 

 into the National treasury in taxes enough money to foot the whole bill 

 and then have a million and a half left over to celebrate the event ; not 

 only that, but Missouri last year produced enough mules to have paid 

 the bill, and then paid the whole expense of the World's Fair besides. 

 I am not here especially to talk for the Missouri mule, but he is a won- 

 derful product. At his best, he stands 17 to 19 hands high, and weighs 

 1,900 pounds. The world has heard of the Missouri mule, and it has 

 come to the point that no nation on earth dares go to war without first 

 sending to Missouri for a supply of mules. His supremacy is acknow- 



