304 IOWA DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE 
for their own personal gain. That old Bibilical saying that "A house 
divided against itself cannot stand" is as true today as it was at the time 
it was uttered. 
Every system of creamery operation has possiby some defects, which 
should be remedied as soon as seen. The business that is established on 
economic principles and on an honest basis will prosper, while that built 
upon fraud and trickery may flourish for a time but eventually it will fail. 
Farmers today rank in intelligence and business instincts with most any 
other class, and they are certainly the best judges concerning the disposal 
of their products, and are going to sell their goods where they can get the 
greatest returns, regardless of the system used. We have co-operative 
creameries, individual creameries and so-called centralized creameries, and 
I presume we will always have them so as to meet the demands of varying 
conditions. 
This association meets every year and goes through about the same 
routine of business each time. A legislative committee is usually ap- 
pointed composed of three or five members whose business it is to solicit 
aid from the legislature for educational purposes or for advancing the 
dairy interests of the state. The members of this committee are supposed 
to pay their own expenses for the honor of being on the committee. After 
a good deal of correspondence, some one is found who will assume the 
responsibility and burden of introducing a bill for the said appropriation. 
Then after a little delay, the committee is informed that they can meet 
with the House committee or the Senate committee, but that their speeches 
must be brief and not exceed five minutes in duration. In fact, that august 
body tries to give you the impression that they are conferring a great 
favor upon you by granting you this privilege. The last time I attended 
such a meeting, while one of our principal speakers was addressing the 
Senate committee, a senator, who was chairman of the Senate Appropria- 
tion Committee, deliberately turned his back and walked away to one of 
the w^indows and viewed the landscape around the capitol. It is needless 
for me to say that the committee seeking aid from such a body of men 
is made to feel that the organization they represent is unworthy of con- 
sideration. 
These representatives are only servants of the people. The reason 
why an organization which represents one of the greatest industries in 
the country, is snubbed year after year in this state is due to the fact 
that the dairymen are not organized. The dairymen of this state have 
never been recognized as they should be. The dairy business is looked 
upon as a cross-road affair, and yet the industry represents at least 
$50,000,000 annually. 
The first thing necessary, in my judgment, to carry on an organization 
of any kind, politically or otherwise, is money. You have in this state, I 
believe, about six hundred creameries. If an intelligent appeal were made 
to these creamerymen, even to the buttermakers, I am satisfied they would 
contribute at least $5.00 apiece toward forming a permanent organization 
with headquarters, say at Des Moines. This would give you a fund from 
creameries alone of at least $3,000.00 per year. Then, our good friends, 
the manufacturers of dairy machinery and the sellers of dairy supplies 
