536 



HISTORY OF HEREFORD CATTLE 



are saying without anyone rightly feeling- that 

 we have "an ax to grind." On this matter we 

 write as we have in the rest of our work, without 

 any hidden meaning. Straightforwardness has 

 ever been our method. When we began prepar- 

 ing this work, knowing that it must be sub- 

 mitted to the Executive Committee, and know- 

 ing well each member of that committee, to 

 meet what we conceived would be their require- 

 ments we were constrained to clothe our words 

 with a little of that hateful subtlety which has 

 ever characterized our opponents from without 

 as well as within the Hereford camp. But 

 when we felt obliged to cancel our agreement 

 with the Executive Ciommittee we were relieved 

 of a distressing position, and we at once deter- 

 mined to renounce subtlety and all its works, 

 and confine our efforts to those methods and to 

 that system of language which had ever been 

 inseparable from our work. 



We know with what reluctance a Hereford 

 breeder would take up the leadership of a cru- 

 sade against existing, offensive and retarding 

 conditions and dangerous tendencies in the 

 Arrterican Hereford Cattle Breeders' Associa- 

 tion. No one rushes, without grave provoca- 

 tion, into a family row. The Association, even 

 under the prevailing system, has been, as if 

 ought to be, in the advance of any similar or- 

 ganization. But the system makes for one man 

 control and an autocrat generally resents the 

 slightest criticism, and having control of the 

 machinery of the Association uses it more or 

 less effectively to the detriment of his critics. 

 An octogenarian,- however, out of business, - 

 speaking for the good of others in a cause he 

 loves so well, need fear nothing, even if he 

 speaks freely. Incidents illustrating our mean- 

 ing may be enumerated, but one will suffice. 



It was the habit of the Treasurer of the 

 American Hereford Ciattle Breeders' Associa- 

 tion up to 1898 to give a personal bond, the 

 strength of which up to that time, we are safe 

 in saying, was never properly investigated. Now 

 we do not question the validity or sufficiency 

 of the bond, but call attention to the careless- 

 ness of the Association in regard to it. 



Let us go further. The Treasurer's bond was 

 passed upon by the Executive -Committee, of 

 which the Treasurer was the active, leading and 

 ruling member. Again, a large surplus fund 

 amounting to $20,000 had accumujated, which 

 the Association ordered to be kept invested in 

 U. S. bonds. With the consent of the Execu- 

 tive Committee, of which the Treasurer was 

 THE PREVAILING MEMBER, this surplus was kept 

 by the Treasurer for many years in unregis- 

 tered United States Government bonds. These 



bonds needed no endorsement, being exactly the 

 same as cash, thus placing the entire funds of 

 our Association at the disposal of and for the use 

 and benefit of the Treasurer without interest, 

 upon a personal bond furnished to and passed 

 upon by the Executive Committee, which was 

 essentially himself. We consider it fortunate 

 for the Hereford Association that our Treasurer 

 was able to weather the panic of '93. We have 

 no reason, however, to believe him any more 

 honest than the treasurer of the Shorthorn As- 

 sociation, who, as is well known, became finan- 

 cially embarrassed, and, doing his best, turned 

 over real estate of questionable value to the 

 Shorthorn Association in lieu of a similar 

 amount of cash. Again, in the office of the 

 Treasurer there was no systematic accounting 

 system. We are not specifically charging dis- 

 honesty on the part of the Treasurer. We mere- 

 ly call attention to the looseness of the Associa- 

 tijOn's system and to the chances for loss occa- 

 sioned by this delegation of all power to the 

 Executive Committee trio, without a proper and 

 anntial accounting. Many another breeder 

 tossed in the financial storm and paying high 

 rates of interest would doubtless have been able 

 to profit greatly by the free use of this great 

 'sum of ready money in the hands of the Treas- 

 urer. 



Now, let us illustrate by a little unwritten 

 history how badly this loose system acts for any 

 individual who may have enough interest in the 

 welfare of the Hereford breed and its Associa- 

 tion to make suggestions for the improvement 

 of the system of this all-powerful and criticism- 

 hating committee. 



The late Mr. G. W. Henry, of Chicago, and 

 Mr. C. B. Smith (11.378), of'Favette, Mo., were 

 particularly friendly in their relations. When 

 Mr. Smith was elected President of the Associa- 

 tion — like other presidents, he had to learn that 

 the office of President of the American Hereford 

 Cattle Breeders' Association was intended for 

 a mere figurehead ; th^t in fact the President 

 had no duties, or at most very simple ones, for 

 which ample preparations werg made that they 

 might be performed by the Executive Commit- 

 tee in case the figurehead neglected them. Mr. 

 Smith, however, happily for Hereford interests, 

 decided that in the estimation of the Associa- 

 tion the 'President's office held some import- 

 ance. He therefore took it upon himself to in- 

 vestigate somewhat of the condition and practice 

 in the office of the Association. In the first 

 place it was found that the Secretary and Treas- 

 urer were not the employes of, nor are they re- 

 sponsible to the Association. They belong, un- 

 der the constitution, body and soul to the Exec- 



