176 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



more cordial now than at any time in the history of the state. There is 

 no discrimination. There is no free transportation. We have been legis- 

 lated out of politics. I am a retired politician. I am not in politics any 

 longer. And I don't see why we should not meet and settle these questions 

 as business men. You can't be prosperous without the railroads prosper. 

 You can't let the railroads fall into discredit and bankruptcy without 

 feeling the effect of it yourselves. Born here in the state of Iowa, having 

 the same pride of state that you men have, rearing my family in the 

 same way that you people rear yours, why shouldn't we railroad men be 

 able to meet you on a fair, square plane of equality, man to man, and 

 thresh our business propositions out as business men, in fairness and 

 without prejudice? That is what I stand for, and that is what I hope 

 some day to see accomplished. I thank you, gentlemen. (Applause.) 



The Toastmaster: A good many years ago — don't know just how- 

 many — seven or eight, I think — we had the governor of this state. He 

 addressed us, I think, in the old Y. M. C. A. auditorium. I don't know' 

 what impression he made on the others of you who are here tonight, and 

 who heard him then, but he said one thing that stuck in my mind. 

 Towards the close of his address, he said: "You people are alive now. 

 You have already accomplished some good. For goodness' sake, stay 

 alive." That comes back to me every time we have our annual meeting. 

 We have with us tonight fcr the first time since then another governor 

 of Iowa, Governor Clarke, whom I am going to introduce at this time. 

 (Applause.) 



Governor George W. Clarke: Mr. Toastmaster and Gentlemen — I sup- 

 pose I am treated tonight exactly as all the other men have been treated 

 who have spoken — simply called upon without having had an opportun- 

 ity to know that we were going to be called on. If I make half as good 

 a speech as the other men have made here tonight, I will have made a 

 good speech, because their speeches were extraordinarily good to my 

 mind, every one of them. W^e have gone back here in these speeches to 

 Moses and Abraham, and all the way from that time down to the present 

 time, and the discussion of the North Western railroad. I found out 

 Abraham was a stockman, and Moses v/as, and pretty near all of the 

 other old Bible worthies were stockmen, and I wondered w^hile Mr. Wal- 

 lace was speaking if they had any such stock in those days as you men 

 have. I don't believe they had. I don't believe they had the fine stock 

 in that time that we have today. And then I began to ask myself the 

 question, "After all, aren't we just beginning in this world?" I rather 

 think that we are. 



We hadn't made very much progress up to seventy-five or a hundred 

 years ago from the days of Abraham and Moses. Not any at all, I guess, 

 as far as transportation is concerned. Mr. Davis has been talking about 

 that. Our transportation at that time was exactly the same that they 

 had in the days of Abraham, and he was dozing before his tent down in 

 the land they called Uz, or some other country down there, anyhow. Ex- 

 actly the same sort of transportation then. But we have made a great 

 deal of progress in the last seventy-five or ^ hundred years. These rail- 



