114 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



in all its seriousness is that each man must now attend to his own busi- 

 ness, provided the government has not called him to go into the service. 

 Not five minutes ago I got through talking with a man who is past the 

 age limit who says he wants to serve his country. I said "If you do and 

 you mean it, get on a pair of overalls and go out and pick corn," but 

 that didn't appeal to him. Now, we have that type of men, unfortunately, 

 right here in Iowa, and it is up to those who are real patriots to carry 

 this message: That every man should take the place that he can find 

 that is open and get into it and work. That is the spirit of the true 

 soldier, and I want to tell you it is. the spirit of the boys down there at 

 Camp Cody. They are not complaining; they are feeling good. There 

 are conditions that could be changed, no doubt, and that ought to be 

 changed, and I have no doubt will be changed; but the boys are not say- 

 ing anything about it, and you never would find it out if you had to wait 

 for them to tell you. And we have got to have that same spirit right here 

 at home. 



So far as the state fair association and the county and district fair 

 association are concerned, what they can do to help win this war is to 

 keep on in the business that you have been in, only intensify it 100 per 

 cent, if possible. You have your organizations, don't abandon them; 

 don't go out of the business; but, instead of having your organization 

 active for a short time in the year, make it active for 365 days now. An 

 agricultural association like this can do wonders, provided it is working. 

 That, of course, is the hard thing. It is hard to get people stirred up to 

 the place where they realize the task that we have before us, and how 

 much they can do to solve that task. Personally, I am not optimistic 

 about the outcome of this war, for two reasons: 



First: That we are getting into it late, and 



Second: That our people yet have not got into the spirit that is neces- 

 sary to win a war, fighting against an enemy the like of which we are 

 fighting. You cannot whip the Hun by slapping him three times on the 

 wrist. They are organized; have been for twenty-five years preparing 

 for this war. The date may not have been actually fixed, but approxi- 

 mately it was. Now, we are going up against that sort of machine, that 

 sort of an organization. It means that every man must about-face, get 

 into the spirit of the war and be ready to fight at home, and you are not 

 fighting at home unless you are doubling your energy in your own oc- 

 cupation and then carrying these outside burdens that come along that 

 are incident to the war. 



I spent more time at the state fair this year than I have ever spent 

 at the state fair before. I think I missed only two days, I don't mean 

 by that that I was there all the time, but I took opportunity to visir 

 practically every exhibit. It was an education and a rest to me, and also 

 an inspiration. The best of the state was exhibited on the fair grounds. 

 It simply opened before one's eyes the possibilities of a rich, fertile state 

 like Iowa, if our people will merely put their attention and their energy 

 to the task. Iowa is rich beyond the dream of any of us who are here. 

 We have only touched the top of the surface — scratched it, if you please. 

 The state fair and the county fairs are designed to inspire the people to 



