184 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



never thought that Sykes was the only man that could make a 

 success of this organization. But it seems that you have forced 

 this upon me again. You have harnessed me, and I guess you ex- 

 pect me to work; that is what I have done in the past. And so I 

 suppose I will have to proceed to look after the interests of the 

 organization for another year. 



You men possibly don't realize just what this means to me, not 

 only as it concerns my own interests, but also in the way of the 

 burden of responsibility in caring for an organization of this kind. 

 Mr. Ames and Mr. Ryan know something about it. Every year 

 this organization is getting larger, and the responsibilities greater. 

 "We have worked out a new system that, as I stated in my annual 

 report, practically compels the man that is in charge of this or- 

 ganization to give it his entire time and the very best that is in 

 him; if he does not, the organization will not maintain its proper 

 standard. 



Now, I will just say that in view of the fact that you have forced 

 this upon me against my will, I will pledge you my word of honor 

 that I will try to do my duty as I have in the past, but I shall ex- 

 pect you to do yours. If I am to handle this organization, it must 

 be growing; and I can not keep it growing unless you assist me. 

 At our next meeting, if the Lord spares my life, I want this organ- 

 ization to be one of the most magnificent that has ever graced the 

 face of the earth, and it will be if we only continue on the line 

 that we are now working on. We have now something like a thou- 

 sand five-year memberships, signed up for from $2 to $10 apiece, 

 and your officers are now in a position to figure ahead. If you hadn't 

 had somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500 pledged at the time 

 this Interstate Commerce Commission case came up, do you sup- 

 pose we would have ventured to employ Mr. Thorne upon it? Not 

 by any means. We are simply putting this on a business basis. 

 And the board of directors say that if there is more money pledged 

 than is necessary to carry on the work of the organization each 

 year, they will levy and collect only such percentage of the amounts 

 pledged as will be necessary to meet the running expenses of the 

 association. So you are not going to be grafted on in any way, 

 because the board will protect your interests. This year the full 

 collection will be made, on account of the heavy expenses of the 

 case that I have referred to. That case is not concluded, and there 

 will yet be several hundred dollars of expense connected with it. But 

 unless hereafter something unforeseen develops, I believe it will not 

 be necessary to collect the full amount of those pledges. 



