28 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



taken care of in the same manner by this department, and made the 

 statement that the state was subsidizing the department of agriculture 

 to the extent of $34,500.00 per annum instead of $14,500.00. 



I have prepared a statement showing amount of salaries and amount 

 paid by the State of Iowa for printing, binding, and supplies used by the 

 department of agriculture for a period of six years. I find this varies 

 very little each year and the average for six years is $7,144.00 per annum 

 instead of $14,500.00 as the efficiency engineers would have you believe. 

 We also find the following valuable advice given the members of the 

 House and Senate: 



"The department of agriculture is a revenue producer, owing prin- 

 cipally to the state fair and the division of horse breeding fees, and it Is 

 therefore a question to be decided by the House and Senate, whether or 

 not it is entitled to annual appropriations for salaries or for any other 

 purpose." 



The gentleman who wrote this report admitted to me that he had never 

 been on a state fair grounds but one-half day in his life and that was a 

 rainy day; also that he had never checked a set of fair books until he 

 came to this department. Yet, after six weeks spent in this office, delving 

 into the records, he comes forth with this invaluable advice to the legis- 

 lature. If the gentleman had seen fit to invesitgate the amount appro- 

 priated for other state fairs he would have found that every state fair 

 in America that is really on the map has been subsidized by state ap- 

 propriations ranging from $350,000.00 to $2,000,000.00, the latter amount 

 being appropriated some six years ago to entirely rebuild the New 

 York State Fair Grounds. 



I wish to quote you the opinion of a state fair manager who has been 

 in the business some twenty years, and who is now recognized as the 

 best authority on these matters of any man in America, and who at the 

 last meeting of the American Association of Fairs and Expositions was 

 honored by being elected President of said association: 



"The State Fair is not an institute peculiar to the State of Iowa, any 

 more than is its university, normal or farm schools; for state fairs, like 

 the other institutions mentioned, are now maintained as a part of the 

 educational system in practically all of the leading agricultural states. 

 Therefore, Iowa is only keeping in the van of progress with its State 

 Fair. 



"The continued success or failure of the State Fair to fulfill its pur- 

 pose and mission will depend largely upon the consideration given it at 

 the hands of this and future legislatures, for no matter how capable 

 and efficient your board of managers may be, or how hard they may 

 work to direct the affairs of the institution along right lines, they will 

 be able to accomplish only such good as they can with the tools and 

 equipment provided them. To illustrate: They can hardly be expected 

 to build up a great annual livestock show without adequate and proper 

 equipment for housing and showing; nor can they be expected to get the 

 best exhibits and results from any one of the several exhibit divisions 

 of the fair unless they have the buildings to properly display these ex- 

 hibits. Neither can the greatest financial results be obtained without 

 suitable accommodations to properly care for those who attend. 



