PART VII 



Excerpts From the Proceedings of the Thirteenth 

 Annual Meeting of the Corn Belt Meat Pro- 

 ducers' Association, Held in Des 

 Moines, January 20-21, 1916 



ADDRESS BY PRESIDENT A. SYKES. 



Another year has rolled around, and we have again assembled at 

 the call of the secretary for the annual meeting. To the officers and 

 members, we extend a most hearty greeting, and we hope that you will 

 feel that this meeting belongs to you, and will participate most freely 

 in its deliberations. By so doing, you are sure to receive the greatest 

 benefit. 



It has become a fixed custom in all organizations such as yours, 

 for the president to deliver an annual address, or, rather, make a report 

 of the work accomplished by the organization during the year past, at 

 each annual meeting. In this way, the members are kept informed of 

 the progress and work of their association. 



When I prepared and delivered to you my report as president at 

 the annual meeting in 1914, and refused to stand for re-election, I con- 

 fidently expected to retjre permanently, and believed that I would never 

 again serve you in that capacity or prepare another annual message. 

 But it is said — and we believe truthfully — that "man proposes and God 

 disposes;" so we can not always tell what the future holds in store 

 for us. I have no apology to make for imposing myself upon you at 

 this time. You must hold your board of directors responsible for this 

 situation. At your annual meeting in 1916, you elected Mr. S. M. Corrie 

 to succeed himself, which was very gratifying to us all. At that time, 

 he to'd you his wife was very ill, and that he did not know what the 

 outcome would be, but we all hoped for the best. But the facts were 

 that Mrs. Corrie's condition did not permanently improve, and during 

 the winter Mr. Corrie vv'as obliged to remain constantly near his af- 

 flicted wife, so that it was impossible for him to give to the association 

 the time and attention required. So in March, after due deliberation, 

 and against the protests of some of the officers of the association, Mr. 

 Corrie filed his resignation with the secretary, and on April 10th, at a 

 called meeting of the board of directors, it was accepted witli regrets, 

 and your humble servant was prevailed upon to accept the office, and 

 was elected president to fill out the balance of the year, contrary to his 

 own desire and under his i)rotest. This, in brief, explains to you why 



