600 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



that of Iowa; that of Missouri was twice as great as Iowa; Minnesota 

 exceeded us by $150,000,000; Illinois exceeded us seven times; even that 

 little dwarfed state of Rhode Island was ahead of Iowa. 



Consider one line of manufacturing that should interest us. Iowa 

 produces 2,800,000 pounds of cheese annually, while Wisconsin produces 

 148,000,000 pounds of cheese annually. The Wisconsin production is more 

 than fifty times greater than that of Iowa. 



The city of St. Louis has a population less than one-third that of the 

 state of Iowa, and yet the products of her factories are greater than those 

 of all the cities in Iowa put together. The population of Iowa is greater 

 than that of Chicago, and yet that single city manufactures five times 

 as much as all the cities in Iowa put together. Eliminating Chicago en- 

 tirely, the rest of Illinois manufactures over twice as much as Iowa. 



Only two of our neighboring states produce more coal than we do. 

 They are Illinois and Indiana. There are only four states in the entire 

 Union that produce more bituminous and anthracite coal than does Iowa, 

 and we have cheaper power than any of these four; that is, the dam down 

 at Keokuk, Iowa. We have the two greatest rivers on the continent on 

 either side of us. We are in the heart of the richest production on the 

 American continent. The center of population is in Bloomington, Ind., 

 about 220 miles east of the Mississippi river. 



Since 1860 the center of the population has moved 200 miles westward 

 and 14 miles northward. This movement has been rather constant, averag- 

 ing between thirty and forty miles during each decade. Within the lives 

 of those within this room, it is safe to say that the center of population 

 of the United States will be in the state directly south of us, the state of 

 Missouri. 



Simply more inhabitants is not what we want. China has a denser 

 population than Iowa, but we would not exchange conditions with China. 

 On the other hand, a better population alone is not what v/e desiro. We 

 want both; we want a larger and a better population. 



I have confined my discussion largely to material things. There are 

 matters of far greater moment than dollars and cents, but it would be 

 difficult to compare our state with others morally or intellectually. The 

 task of uplifting humanity has always existed, and always will be with 

 us. Other states have their poor and unfortunate. We must do our part 

 in this great work. We are living in the midst of a commercial age, and 

 I have considered chiefly the industrial development of our state. 



With our vast natural resources, with our great coal beds, our cheap 

 water power, close to the center of population, which means the center 

 of consumption, and in the center of production; with the two greatest 

 rivers *of the continent on either side of us; with a network of railroads 

 within our borders, and great transcontinental systems radiating in all 

 directions; with water transportation via the Father of Waters to the 

 Gulf and the Panama Canal, and thence to the farthest corners of the 

 globe; with the highest average intelligence in the entire country; here 

 in the heart of the garden spot of the world, this grand old state of Iowa 

 must forge ahead, and take her place in the forefront of the great in- 

 dustrial states of our nation. 



