20 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



without overcharging some and undercharging others. Contracts are en- 

 tered into in all of these departments and the superintendent's committee 

 book sets forth the name of the concessionaire, nature of the concession and 

 amount charged. The amount deposited with the treasurer is also verified 

 with the total amount of collections shown by the superintendent's com- 

 mittee book. 



"Dog Show — This feature was introduced for the 1912 fair through 

 the medium of the Greater Des Moines Kennel Club and the income derived 

 therefrom comprises the entry fees together with admission receipts 

 ($1,222.95) by examination with the tickets issued and returned records, 

 but we have been unable to verify the correctness of the entry fees ($274.75) 

 and sundry receipts ($103.48) as the department does not possess any docu- 

 mentary evidence of a satisfactory character." 



The Dog Show conducted at the 1912 Iowa State Fair was a conces- 

 sion conducted under the auspices of the Des Moines Kennel Club. The 

 contract we had with this club provided that the department was to re- 

 ceive 75 per cent of the net receipts and the Kennel Club 25 per cent. At 

 the close of the fair the secretary of the Des Moines Kennel Club submitted 

 us a statement, which included his entry book, showing $274.75 had been 

 collected as entry fees from the dog show exhibitors; also an attached 

 statement which showed miscellaneous receipts to the amount of $103.48. 

 This was approved by the executive committee and settlement was made 

 on that basis, the result being that the department made a net profit on 

 the dog show of $96.93. If you are familiar with kennel club rules you 

 will understand that the local kerniel club controls this territory and no 

 other show can be held in this territory without their consent, and it was 

 for this reason and because the Des Moines Kennel Club could do much 

 to promote the show that this contract was made. 



"Concessions and Privileges — The amounts turned over by the super- 

 intendent of this department are in agreement with the entries in the 

 receipts book, but the evidence placed at our disposal for the verification 

 thereof has been of an unsatisfactory character, inasmuch as the amount 

 called for by the individual contracts with certain of the concessionaries has 

 not always been accounted for, and furthermore, in certain instances, the 

 signature of the concessionaire has not been obtained to the contracts, 

 thereby rendering these documents useless as a means of verification. We 

 are informed that the discrepancies between the contract prices and the 

 amounts turned over by the superintendent are due in some cases to the 

 abandonment of the privileges by the concessionaires, and in other cases 

 to reductions in the prices made by the superintendent acting within his 

 discretionary power granted by the board. The individual amounts payable 

 by the concessionaires under their contracts are fixed by the superintendent 

 of this department, the board leaving the matter of the consideration pay- 

 able thereunder entirely in his hands, and we are informed that it is im- 

 practicable for the board to fix definite prices beforehand, at which the 

 concessions and privileges are to be granted, owing to the peculiar condi- 

 tions under which this department operates. We verified the income de- 

 rived from the concessions granted to the Reiss Shows, which was fixed 

 at 35 per cent of the admissions thereto for the year 1912, but we have been 



