SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III 147 



you woulfl be divided into different crowds, the northeastern Iowa (circuit, 

 the northwestern, the southern, the southwestern, and so on, all trj^ing 

 to grab the popular attractions. You would find that the attraction men 

 would work the different fairs whei'e they would have the least expense 

 of transportation. We meet in Chicago to look at these attractions, but 

 we never sign any there. We get their propositions and take them up 

 afterwards. We have a circuit up in northwestern Iowa and it has the 

 attractions. Mr. Mullen stated that we do not aim to have the same 

 attractions, because probably twenty-five per cent of the people living 

 between two toAvns will go to both fairs, and we try to vary the enter- 

 tainment. 



In this matter I am afraid of stirring up discord. We had that in 

 Chicago and it is liable to disrupt our organization. The trouble we 

 have had has been that state fairs were on certain dates and got certain 

 attractions and then the disappointed ones accuse the others of standing- 

 in with the attraction men. For instance, there was Iowa, Minnesota, 

 Wisconsin and Illinois all in a group, and the men who put on the big 

 attraction would rather sign with those fairs at less money than to sign 

 one and then have to jump from here to New York or Michigan. I am 

 afraid of this proposition, gentlemen; I am afraid it is going to divide 

 you; I am afraid you are going to lessen the attendance at the meeting 

 of the department of agriculture, and I believe a remedy would be to 

 have your annual meeting follow the meeting of the department of agri- 

 culture. I think one whole day should be devoted to round-table talk, 

 where the secretaries of fairs could tell what they did and the things 

 that were most interesting. That is something that would help all of 

 us and give us ideas which we may apply to our own fairs. 



I am willing to abide by anything that this body does, but I am 

 afraid that you are going to drift away from the annual meeting of the 

 department of agriculture if you have this spring meeting and that it 

 will simply tear this association apart. 



The Chairman: In connection with this motion, gentlemen, there is 

 a matter which you may have overlooked. In order to change this meeting 

 we must amend the by-laws. How would this suit you : Have the Tuesday 

 meeting as we do now; then attend the meeting of the state department of 

 agriculture, at the state house on Wednesday, and have another day 

 (Thursday) down here again. It seems to me that might solve the 

 problem. The constitution may be amended by a two-thirds vote of 

 the delegates present at any regular meeting, and the constitution pro- 

 vides that our meeting shall be the Tuesday preceding the Wednesday 

 meeting of the board of agriculture. Those in favor of submitting the 

 matter of a spring meeting to the executive committee for action simply 

 signify by saying "aye". 



The iC'hairman. The motion is lost. The meeting is open for un- 

 finished business and new business. This is about as interesting a time 

 as we have had in this meeting — this last half hour, and let's arrive 

 at some plan in reference to this fall meeting. 



