192 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



cents at the gate, fifteen cents at the amphitheater and the show 

 this year that we gave the people was something they will remember. 

 I believe the only successful way to run a fair is to give the people 

 something worth their money. If you don't do that, I think it is 

 something like the saying of President Lincoln that ' ' You can fool 

 some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time, but 

 you can't fool all the people all the time," and so with county 

 fairs, you can 't get the people all back after they have been fooled 

 once. Now the fair is all right, but in our county I am heartily 

 in favor of doing all we can without the state aid in order to make 

 our fair a success, but at the same time I am in favor of state 

 aid. 



Delegate : The idea of this state aid seems to be misunderstood 

 by a good many. The idea of state aid to a county fair is not to 

 build buildings on the ground ; it is not to pay for horse races or 

 free attractions, but to encourage the fair association to pay larger 

 premiums on agricultural and stock exhibits. It is based, not on 

 the number in attendance or what they pay for horse races and such 

 things, but it is based on the amount of money they pay for agri- 

 cultural exhibits and on live stock, and the more premiums you 

 pay on these exhibits the more encouragement you give to the 

 pure bred stock raiser at the fair; you make it an object for him 

 to bring it to the fair, and when he brings it there and compares 

 it with stuff, either inferior or better lines than his stuff, he goes 

 back home with a determination to improve his stock or agricultural 

 stuff. "We are not asking anything to build up buildings or put a 

 horse race course on the grounds. The law don 't give you a cent of 

 money for any of these things. The thing we want to do is to 

 have state aid so we can encourage better live stock and better farm 

 methods by paying better premiums. I want to say that the 

 amount of money you draw for the salaries does not warrant a very 

 great deal of business ability or experience in ninning a fair. Now, 

 this fair proposition, as I take it, w^here the state aid should come in 

 is strictly along the line of improvement of these farms and the 

 improvement of housework. It is not for entertainment. It is not 

 for the show. The man that can't make the show win ought to get 

 out of the show business. It is for the improvement of argicultural 

 industry in this state, and I believe it is too serious a matter to 



