FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART I 29 



"We believe in the policy of the legislature looking well after her in- 

 stitutions, and commend the work of the legislatures in the past for their 

 liberality shown towards them. But we cannot conceive how any right 

 thinking men or set of men can deal with other state institutions and 

 consider carefully their. needs, and leave the one institution that is closer 

 to the people than any other without providing funds for its betterment. 



We are often told that the State Fair should be self-supporting; that 

 state funds should not be required for its improvements and up-keep. 

 Why not ask the same of the state university and farm schools? The fact 

 remains that the State Fair, insofar as the actual expense of the fair is 

 concerned, is self-supporting, and more than so, having for years re- 

 turned a net profit that has been put back into improvements and bet- 

 terments of the State Fair grounds property. In this respect alone, if 

 by no other, it differs from the other state educational institutions as 

 the others contribute little, if any, to their own support or betterment." 



I leave you to draw your conclusions whether the advice of the former 

 or the latter is the most valuable and reliable. 



"The only specific information published in reference to the opera- 

 tions of the department is contained in the printed annual financial 

 statement, which is necessarily misleading as it is compiled from the 

 receipts and payments of the particular period, irrespective of whether 

 they are properly applicable thereto; and is also erroneous in several 

 respects — no distinction being made between disbursements for repairs 

 and disbursements for permanent improvements, and in addition receipts 

 In respect of the sale of assets are included as income, thus unduly in- 

 flating the net income for the fiscal year." 



It is rather a hard matter to answer the accusations made in the above 

 paragraph for the reason that the engineers simply say the financial 

 statements published by this department are misleading. They do not 

 attempt to point out any specific instances but make a broadside state- 

 ment to this effect. They also say the statements are erroneous in 

 several respects. We are not aware that errors are on our books and they 

 did not point them out to us. We are at a loss to know why such ac- 

 cusations should be made and printed in a public document without sul> 

 stantiating same with a few facts. The engineers also state no dis- 

 tinction is made between disbursements for repairs and disbursements 

 for permanent improvements; yet on page 1965, under schedule "7" 

 they have copied the statement from our balance book in 1912 for the 

 itemized account for money spent for maintenance and repairs to grounds 

 and buildings; they also state the receipts from the sale of assets 

 are included as income, thus unduly inflating the income for the fiscal 

 year. The receipts received from old lumber are carried in the accounts 

 for "receipts other than fair" and in no way enter into the accounts 

 which determine the profit or loss of the fair. 



Regarding the recommendations of the efficiency engineers the Com- 

 mittee on Retrenchment and Reform have saved us the trouble of mak- 

 ing any comment on recommendation No. 1, for in accordance with their 

 report they have already placed it in the discard. However, it might be 

 well to comment on this as it exemplifies the judgment of these gentle- 

 men on fair matters. They recommend that the Board be reduced to seven 



