116 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



the people of this great State and to the perpetuity of its institutions, 

 and oh Lord, make the members honest, and if you can't make them 

 honest, make them just as honest as you can.' " 



I don't know but that such a prayer was made; it might have been 

 made in the days when Brother Mars was a member and sat in the Senate 

 there, or it might have been made in the good old days when we had the 

 old territorial form of government, but I want to say to you here, that 

 the members of the legislature are the reflex of the citizens that send 

 them there, and I want to say to you too, that if the proper element 

 predominates in the primaries and political conventions of any party, 

 you will find the reflex of this element among the members of the 

 legislature. 



In conversation with Dr. Kedzie, I asked him this question : "In your 

 opinion, is any percentage in this large increase in insanity, due to adul- 

 teration of foods and drinks?" He replied, "I am firmly of the opinion that 

 a very large per cent of the increase in insanity is due to the adulteration 

 of foods and drinks, but particularly drinks." If this is true, when we 

 take into consideration that it has cost the State nearly a million 

 dollars a year for the care of the insane, isn't it important to find out 

 what are the facts? 



STATISTICS OF LIQUOR TRAFFIC NEEDED. 



You can go down to the capitol at Lansing; go all through the different 

 departments and you will hear men make the assertion that the liquor 

 traffic has cost the State a certain amount of money and is responsible for 

 a certain amount of crime. I want to say to you that you cannot find the 

 first iota of proof in all the departments at Lansing to substantiate the 

 statement. A bill was introduced at the last legislature, asking for the 

 appointment of a commission, or in lieu of that, that the secretary or 

 chairman of the Board of Corrections and Charities be authorized to 

 make an investigation of this subject in all its bearings, and see what 

 foundation there is for these statements — what are the facts. In order 

 to legislate wisely and well, it is necessary to know what we are about. 

 That bill was referred to the Committee on Liquor Traffic, it went into a 

 pigeon hole, and has not seen the light of day since. 



EDUCATION. 



There is another thing, and that is the educational question. The last 

 legislature passed a number of laws bearing on educational matters. I 

 wish to say that they were all passed for the avowed purpose of advanc- 

 ing the interests of the children of this great State of Michigan. Most 

 of you, or many of you, will remember, years and years ago, a song that 

 they used to sing, and it began like this: 



"Of all the mighty nations, in the east or in the west, 

 This glorious Yankee nation is the richest and the best. 

 Then come along, come along, make no delay, 

 Come from every nation, come from every way; 

 Our lands they are broad enough, don't be alarmed, 

 For Uncle Sam is rich enough to give us all a farm." 



