TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART V 403 



come when the farmers of Iowa and the United States will fix the 

 price of corn and hogs and cattle and other products from with- 

 in. (Applause). 



We have been studying the cost of production in the state of 

 Iowa for the purpose of finding out how much it did cost us to 

 produce those products. We do not expect that we shall put a 

 price on our products gauged entirely by the amount it costs to 

 produce it, but we do expect to study supply-and-demand on our 

 own hogs, and finally get the quotient of demand divided by sup- 

 ply, or supply divided by demand, whichever way it goes, and 

 make a price that is justified to us. We expect the Committee 

 of Seventeen to give us a plan so far as grain is concerned. 



The financial end of the proposition is a big question, also. We 

 have got to solve the financial end of that proposition, and you 

 are going to hear Mr. Andrews on the platform this afternoon, 

 and he will, perhaps, tell you something about the bankers' phase 

 of that financing problem. I presume he will, I don't know. But 

 here is a thought I want to leave with you people: While that 

 financing proposition is a very necessary one, it is necessary that 

 we work it out, yet it is not hopeless — we can work it out. Mr. 

 Lever gave us a nice illustration of that in his talk at the national 

 convention — he perhaps will be here tonight ; we expect him here 

 tonight on this problem, and he may give you the same talk, I 

 don't know ; but I am going to steal just a little bit of his thunder 

 because it fits in well right here on the financing part of this 

 program. He said down at Indianapolis that during the war the 

 United States government issued some pieces of paper in the 

 amount of something like 25-billions of dollars, and floated them 

 all over this country. You men who were secretaries of the War 

 Emergency Board know how you went out or sent out letters to 

 your farmer friends over in the different parts of the county and 

 said "Your quota is — so much — Come in and sign up," and he 

 came in and signed up like the good, patriotic soul that he was. 

 I happened to be secretary of our local organization down in 

 Harrison county and I sent those quotas out. I felt like a darn 

 sneak — I guess I had better hold up on that proposition. 



Voice : AVe all felt that way. 



The President : But we bought those pieces of paper. We 

 borrowed money at the bank, a good many of us, and paid 8 per 

 cent to pay for them ; but the idea I want to get to you people is 

 they floated and sustained 25-billions of value, they cost that 



