THIRTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART V 231 



subject. I am at liberty then to wander around as I may see fit, and say 

 a few things if they happen to occupy to me as I go along. 



I understand that you are gathered here today to consider the work 

 of the next year, and to complete the work of the past year. You have 

 in charge the annual state fair that is held out here on the fair grounds. 

 To my mind this is one of the largest, best and most important educa- 

 tional institutions in the state. One that is not appreciated as much as 

 it ought to be by the people of the state, nor is it used as much by the 

 people of the state as it deserves. It is not wholly the fault of the people 

 nor is it wholly the fault of this agricultural society. We have been 

 having it so easy in Iowa that we have neglected many of the important 

 matters and things that other states have used, and to advantage. You 

 talk about California and other western states that are advertised a great 

 deal. If you go to plant an orchard in that western country, you have 

 to build the place in which to plant the orchard. In Iowa you have the 

 place already prepared, and so you don't plant the orchard. Iowa has 

 the possibilities of being a great fruit producing state. And so it is with 

 many other things; many of the magnificent things that are advertised 

 in these other states are lying around loose in Iowa and not used. We 

 have been just farming the surface of the soil here. We have not been 

 digging down into the hidden things of Iowa. Iowa is rich in hidden 

 treasures that are lying here to be opened up by us and by the coming 

 generations. 



The state fair, as I understand it, has two objects. One is entertain- 

 ment — high-class entertainment — entertainment that will elevate the cit- 

 izenship of the .state. That feature of the fair is easy to care for. The 

 other feature is education. The latter is the most important feature, 

 and the one that should receive the most careful consideration here and 

 at every other time when you meet. We all know that it is impossible 

 for every citizen of the state to visit the state fair in Des Moines. The 

 state fair ought not to be solely an agricultural exhibit. It ought to in- 

 clude every industry in the state. We ought not to be satisfied with hav- 

 ing the best cattle, sheep, horses and hogs here and placing them on exhi- 

 bition, but we should bring as well the best product of the inventive mind 

 of the state and put that on exhibition. The state fair should be an edu- 

 cational institution where people can come and study the various subjects 

 in which a great people are interested. If a man is interested in the 

 blacksmith business, he ought to be able to come to the state fair and get 

 information here that he can get nowhere else because the best should be 

 here. The one thing about the state fair that is better than all the other 

 fairs is that you have the best product of the state, and that you know 

 is the ideal. Every successful man, every successful institution has an 

 ideal. You find out here at the state fair the best animals that are raised 

 in the state of Iowa. Anyone who is interested in that particular line of 

 industry can go out there and have his ideal satisfied, or at least if it is 

 not satisfied, or if he has not an ideal, then he can get the inspiration that 

 will give him an ideal. The only thing in life that causes the boy to look 

 forward and go through school, to go through hard work and drudgery is 

 the fact that some place, somewhere, the boy sees an ideal to which he is 



