PART VII 



Excerpts from the Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual Meet- 

 ing of the Corn Belt Meat Producers' Association Held 

 in Des Moines January 28-29, 1919 



ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT SYKES. 



The year 1918 has been a most busy and anxious one on the part 

 of all our people. Never in the life of our nation have the American 

 people overcome such difficulties, accomplished such gigantic tasks and 

 vi^ritten such sublime history, as during the past year. And due credit 

 cannot be denied our farmers and stockmen for the important part they 

 have played in the accomplishment of these marvelous and almost super- 

 human acts, performed by our government, our soldiers and our civilian 

 population. 



Among the many great and perplexing problem^ confronting us as a 

 people, at the time of your last annual convention, was the transportation 

 problem and the feeding of our Allies and our people at home. 



Freight transportation conditions east of Chicago had become so 

 congested that on the 19th day of December, 1917, the President deemed 

 it wise to take over by proclamation the entire railroad system of the 

 country, and place it under government control, and appointed Mr. 

 William G. McAdoo Director-General of Railroads. 



There is not any doubt but what, under the circumstances, the Presi- 

 dent acted wisely, and yet this action, in conjunction with the unprece- 

 dented storms of the winter, tended to greatly slow up the movement of 

 freight trains, and to finally block almost entirely the movement of 

 grain and live stock to market. During the fore part of January, we 

 watched with a great deal of anxiety and concern these conditions de- 

 velop, not knowing just what course to pursue, under the new order of 

 things, but the situation grew worse so rapidly that about the 10th of 

 January we started out with the intention of taking up the matter with 

 the operating heads of the different railroads of the state, and if neces- 

 sary going on to Washington, to try and secure, if possible, some relief. 

 We first visited Boone, and went from there to Des Moines, where Secre- 

 tary Wallace and I conferred with members of the State Council of De- 

 fense with regard to the matter, and also the operating heads of the 

 various railroads. From here w^e went to Chicago, arriving twelve hours 

 late, in one of the worst blizzards of the winter. Here I at once took up 

 the question of live stock service with J. P. Cotton, chief of the meat 

 division of the Food Administration, who had just returned from Wash- 

 ington; and we then both proceeded to lay the matter before the heads 



