FOURTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II 195 



the storm has gone by and the history of these legislatures is written, 

 the state of Iowa is ready to rise up and say what they did was wise, it 

 was right. We are now reaping the benefits of the wisdom of the men 

 who are gone, and the time will come when we will reap the benefits of 

 the legislature now in session, and will praise its work as we praise 

 the work of those who have gone before. 



Nor has there been, there never has been in Iowa, I think, an invest- 

 ment or an enlargement of any of her institutions that any man in Iowa 

 now criticizes. ' We ought before condemning to get hold of the facts, 

 understand fully the facts. A man who undertakes to solve a problem 

 without getting a strong grasp on the facts and all the circumstances 

 surrounding it, is apt to make mistakes. When he gets hold of the 

 facts, knows all the circumstances surrounding the proposition, he will 

 not be very apt to reach a wrong conclusion. These men managing the 

 Fair do have, and have every opportunity to have. But I said some- 

 thing about the value of that plant and the money that had gone into 

 it. The report that was laid on my desk yesterday with reference to 

 that institution shows a profit or a surplus to the state of Iowa, of 

 $653,923 — getting up towards three quarters of a million of dollars under 

 the management of the State Fair Board. That surplus, of course, is 

 seen in buildings that have been erected and in other directions. I call 

 your attention to these things to indicate to you that the management 

 has been wise and honest, and not subject to the criticism that we 

 sometimes hear of men who stand at the management and head of an 

 institution like the Agricultural Society and the State Pair. A manage- 

 ment that can show a surplus — a profit in buildings and otherwise of 

 nearly three quarters of a million dollars has not been a failure but a 

 success, and the fact ought to be heralded over the state so that the 

 people may see and know what that great institution has done, in an 

 educational way, in bringing wealth to the people of the state, in adding 

 to the investment the profits made in its management. I think the peo- 

 ple ought to know these things. How prone we are to criticize, and 

 how often we fail in commendation and praise. I believe that the man 

 who manages successfully and with integrity and honesty and loses no 

 dollar of the people's money, is entitled to praise, and I give unstinted 

 praise this morning, and I am not afraid to do it anywhere. Always 

 where praise is entitled to be made I shall not hesitate to give the praise 

 and honor where honor is due. This report laid upon my table yesterday, 

 shows, in the language of the report, "that for each dollar invested by 

 the state there is $2.40 worth of property." Now what man of us, what 

 man anywhere over the state of Iowa, has managed his business and 

 can make any better showing than that, that for every dollar invested 

 there is a showing of $2.40 as a return for it. I say that this is good, 

 and I say that report ought to be heralded over the state, and the peo- 

 ple ought to know of it. I feel a pride in calling your attention to it 

 this morning. Now that is accounted for, — all this surplus — as I have 

 said, by the thousands of dollars invested annually in permanent build- 

 ings and permanent improvements on the State- Fair ground. There is 

 carried $126,720 worth of fire insurance, and $161,200 worth of tornado 

 insurance for the protection of the property of the state. We have 283 1-3 



