^o8 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Over in Canada they have been pushing their schools there. More 

 than that; they have travelling dairy instructors. In Quebec there are 

 28 men who travel over different provinces' teaching them to make better 

 cheese. Now what happened'? What were we doing while Canada was 

 selling four million? We were selling five million. And what is being 

 done today? She is selling sixteen million and we have jumped from 

 fifteen million to less than ten million. Our exports decreased'; her ex- 

 ports increased 400 per cent, and farmers winked at it because they could 

 get five or ten cents' more for their milk. We pretty nearly drove every 

 cheese factory out of the country. We fought in Congress and got it 

 stoppedland American cheese is beginning to come up again. Now there 

 are two million more going out of the country. We can make cheese 

 and you can make butter. We fi rst drove filled' chees out of the State, 

 but we had to take our bitter medicine. W^e purged our own State and 

 then went with you citizens to the legislature and fought it. 



Now it is butter, and we must fight it. You have got the hardest 

 battle to fight that is going to be fought anywhere. If you hold together, 

 if you down any politician that is against you, you will be helping in the 

 battle, and it will be surprising how you will wake up here. There are 

 enough men in this room today if they would' hold together to do won- 

 ders in this work, no matter whether Populists, Democrats, or Republi- 

 cans, if they will stand by honest dairy goods, and other things being 

 equal, no matter what politics w e are going to stand by the best man, 

 never minding the party. Let the old questions go by and stand to- 

 gether. There are hundreds of million of dollars at issue; will you help 

 us? 



Just now there are two men. in Washington that are both in jail, and 

 the question is shall they go to the penitentiary. They have been con- 

 demned, but there are lots of men in Washington, Senators and Repre- 

 sentatives, and the big infiuence from Chicago bearing down on McKinley 

 to pardon these two men. Who are they? Wilkins and Butler. Wilkins 

 has defied the United States Government times without number in regard' 

 to the revenue law of oleomargarine. He has been indiictedi and the 



