ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



65 



go into the subject extensively, but 

 I am a professional student of nature. 

 My profession is that of natural his- 

 tory. I have no other profession; 

 but I have studied this subject among 

 others, and of all the subjects in na- 

 ture I have studied there is nothing 

 that has proven so interesting and 

 attractive and all-absorbing as the 

 honey bee. 



There are many topics that are very 

 well nigh exhausted, hxA when we 

 come to bee-keeping we nave a sub- 

 ject the depth of which has never 

 been fathomed. For generations and 

 generations bee-keepers will yet be 

 studj'ing their problems and master- 

 ing them and yet have more to study 

 and learn. That seems to me to be 

 encouraging. It is certainly much 

 more encouraging to me as a student 

 to look into the subject and see there 

 is more to study, imore to learn and 

 more to know. It encourages me 

 more to press onward and discover 

 and learn and know, than to think 

 that before long some day I may come 

 to the end and know it all. And so 

 you, as bee-keepers, are to be con- 

 gratulated. 



In welcoming you to the State of 

 Pennsylvania, I would call your at- 

 tention to the fact that this is, to a 

 great extent, a German State. The 

 term "Pennsylvania Dutchman" is not 

 unfamiliar to most of you. We have 

 a good many of my good German 

 friends in the audience. They are 

 steady, earnest, honest, progressive 

 people, and not perhaps so quick as 

 some, but more steady, and conse- 

 quently in that regard they are very 

 reliable. Their nature is well ex- 

 pressed by a transaction that I knew 

 of having taken place between two 

 of them in which one owed the other 

 some money in connection with a sale 

 and he agreed to pay by a note which 

 would be paid in due time, when it 

 came due. He drew the note and he 

 said to his friend. "Now, Hans, you 

 keep this note and then you knows 

 when it comes due, and when it comes 

 due you can comes and pays me." 

 And so when the note came due Hans 

 took the note over and said, "Now 

 this note is due and I give you the 

 money and the note, and then you 

 keeps it and you knows it is paid." 

 (Laughter). 



Now, that just about expresses the 

 honesty and integrity of the so-called 

 Pennsylvania Dutchman. I have lived 



in several States and I find these peo- 

 ple to be nice friends and neighbors, 

 and reliable. 



What we do need in this State and 

 I believe what we need in every State, 

 is a greater knowledge of our sub- 

 ject, a practical knowledge of our 

 subject. We need to read more of the 

 writings of scientific and practical 

 men. We need to come into closer 

 contact with scientific investigators 

 who are making their work practical. 

 On the other hand the scientific in- 

 vestigator needs to come into closer 

 contact with the practical men. One 

 cannot well do without the other. Such 

 a meeting as this is for the purpose 

 of bringing us together, and we hope, 

 ladies and gentlemen, that you will 

 make it yours. The City is open to 

 you. The Capitol is open to you. I 

 shall offer, if you can find time for it, 

 Mr. President, to pilot the visiting 

 friends through this wonderful Capi- 

 tol Building. You have heard and read 

 a great deal about it. Sometimes there 

 may. be a little ameliorating news to 

 give; sometimes it may not be quite 

 so bad as it has been reported; it may 

 at times be like the fellow who went 

 west and, in climbing over a precipice 

 in the Rocky Mountains, fell to the 

 bottom of the cliff. His associates tel- 

 egraphed home to his friends and said, 

 "John has fallen over the precipice, 

 both legs and his arms and neck are 

 broken, John is dead." In looking him 

 over and in thinking about it they 

 thought they should ameliorate that 

 information to some extent and they 

 found they could do it. They tele- 

 graphed, "A wrong impression has been 

 given. John's left arm was not broken. 

 News not as bad as first reported."' 

 So it is possible that toy the time you 

 look through this Capitol Building you 

 may find the news is not as bad as 

 at first reported. Let me say some- 

 thing that you will see by looking over 

 the building, that you are meeting in 

 the grandest building of its kind in 

 America; the one constructed with 

 the least amount of time; the one that 

 was constructed with the least amount 

 of money in its construction, whatever 

 may be said about the graft and graft- 

 ers. I have nothing to defend what- 

 ever. I have no remarks to make in 

 favor of the persons who padded their 

 accounts in order to obtain personal 

 gain. Those persons are now under 

 indictment and thej- will he speedily 

 and lawfully prosecuted; but the fact 



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