568 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Mr. Coon : No ; they can not do that. 



Member: And I put it in the hands of a lawyer and they 

 bluffed him out; he says, "I guess they have got you there." 



Mr. Coon: I can not specifically answer that question, because 

 I haven't seen the other three files. 



Mr. Thorne : I want to say, with regard to this gentleman 

 who has been talking to you, that that is a very hard subject to 

 handle, because of the multiplicity of legal questions involved. I 

 have a friend w^ho has written a book on damages between ship- 

 pers and carriers and it consists of over 3,000 pages, w^ith thirty 

 cases to the page, so you can see that there are a great many dif- 

 ferent issues involved, Mr. Coon informs me that he has received 

 very few claims from the Corn Belt Meat Producers' Association. 

 However, to show you that he does fight a little I will say to you 

 that he has seventy-seven cases in court at the present time, so 

 you can see that he doesn't lay down on them. 



The President: I don't think that our members are altogether 

 to blame for not having filed their claims with Mr. Coon, because 

 of the fact that he only became connected with the organization 

 as collector last March, and lots of our members haven't learned 

 yet that he represented the organization, or haven't gotten his 

 name and address, or didn't know where to send things. Mr. 

 Coon's office is not at the stock yards ; it is not at the Exchange 

 building, but it is in the Transportation building. We have tried 

 those out quite fully in this discussion and also in my report and 

 I think that in another year J\Ir. Coon will have a larger percent- 

 age of our members' claims without any doubt. 



Now, gentlemen, we have with us in this annual meeting two 

 men from a state that has never been represented before in our 

 annual meeting. These men came at our request and invitation 

 to especially familiarize themselves with the plans that this 

 organization has been working on for the formation of a market- 

 ing committee for beef cattle, and they both have to leave us this 

 evening, they inform me, and can not remain over tomorrow for 

 this general discussion and consideration of these plans, and for 

 that reason at this time I am going to call on these gentlemen to 

 say a few words. I know you men would like to listen to them, 

 and also to know that they are here and see who they are. At 

 this time I am going to introduce to you ]\Ir. S. P. Houston, of 

 Malta Bend, Missouri, who is president of the Cattle Feeders' 

 Organization of Missouri. He is not merely at the head of the 

 organization there, but he is really in the game himself. Mr. 

 Houston. 



