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whether, if they had been really active and alert and on the firing 

 line when this thing was discovered in 1904, might they not have 

 accomplished some real thing which would have redounded to the 

 benefit of the other States, as Massachusetts has done in her 

 gypsy moth fight? (Applause). If instead of sitting down 

 and nursing their hands in idleness and allowing this scourge 

 to go on, simply because they could not originate sufficient in- 

 terest in their States, they had gone out and done what they 

 could, this thing would probably not have come upon us. The 

 assumption is quite as valid as many we have heard from the 

 other side. 



Now Mr. Chairman, in work of this kind I think it just and 

 right that those who are interested in it should all pull together. 

 If we do not agree upon methods, if we are not agreed as to our 

 conclusions, why not each work out these conclusions for him- 

 self? Why not each interested person, State, or organization, 

 endeavor to do what he or it can? We would regard it as 

 our everlasting shame and disgrace if we had sat down and per- 

 mitted this disease to sweep on without raising a hand against 

 it. We have the finest kind of illustrations of success in work 

 of this kind. Did the United States Goverment cease to pursue 

 its investigations and its practical work in the eradication of 

 yellow fever simply because it took a hundred years to get to 

 some tangible result? Finally they have solved the yellow fever 

 problem. They have done it with the aid of the scientist, and 

 we welcome his effort, but we want it to be on scientific grounds. 

 New Jersey has been plagued with mosquitoes since time imme- 

 morial, I presume ; but have the citizens of New Jersey ever failed 

 to screen their windows against mosquitoes because the scientists 

 of the State have not succeeded in working out a method of 

 eradication that is effective? There is a lot of homely illus- 

 tration of effort where we are engaged in doing what we can in 

 an endeavor to find out something that will be really useful, 

 tangible, and effective. 



That is the keynote of our work here. I would like this Con- 

 vention to carry away with it the idea that we are in this work 

 just for what ever result we can accomplish, and we do not care 

 in what direction the inquiry goes. That makes no difference 

 whatever. What do we care whether this fungus went on a 



