48 



DRY-FARMING CONGRESS, WICHITA, 1914 



in Wisconsin, but, like the Irish friend, we are proud of our native state, 

 no matter whether we were born in it or not! 



I now take pleasure in introducing to you my good personal friend, 

 Governor Ammons, of the state of Colorado. 



Colorado 



GOVERNOR AMMONS: 



Governor Hodges, Members of the Congress: At the morning session, 

 Governor Hodges was kind enough to extend an invitation to me to come 

 down in Kansas and live. Inasmuch as "Billy" Sunday is up in Colorado 

 trying to drive the liquor out of that state, and my good friend and his 

 associates in the Supreme Court of the United States, are trying to take 

 our water away, I may take up that invitation and seek a thirst parlor in 

 this state! 



It was indeed a pleasure to come to this conference even for a short 

 period, because it represents those things in which I have taken a personal 

 part all my life. I am a ranchman and have been, in a humble way, caring 

 for ranches in this Western country since I was 10 years old, all of it, 

 however, in the state of Colorado. I have been through your Exposition 

 and have witnessed there some of the finest agricultural exhibits I have 

 ever seen in my life, and I believe the best one for its size I have ever seen. 



I was interested in the portion of the program I had the opportunity 

 of listening to this afternoon, where the experiences of some of the states 

 were related. You know it struck me as being a splendid thing that these 

 Western states particularly and countries simularly situated, should get 

 together and engage in an experience meeting, if you please, pointing out 

 their successes and giving to each other the advantages of the experiences 

 of all. These conferences, this Congress if you please, has a great oppor- 

 tunity, not only for one or two or a dozen years, but for generations to 

 come in the upbuilulce of agriculture in these great expanses where we 

 have learned but lately of all their advantages — and so it is a great pleas- 

 ure to be here today. 



I may say a few words for Colorado, but I want to say a few words 

 first for the West. The West is still sparsely settled. Almost within my 

 recollection it was de'scribed as a desert. We have made great progress but 

 the progress we have made, the experience we have had, only point out 

 more and more each year, not only the possibilities but the problems we 

 must solve and these problems are largely the same, no matter where you 

 go. What are some of these problems today? They are similar in Kansas, 

 Colorado, New Mexico and the balance of the West. We need more money 

 for development and more people — that is what we need. We have every- 

 thing else. We have natural resources enough to supply tens and tens of 

 millions where we have hundreds of thousands now. There is no end to 

 them. So the two things we need are cooperation and labor and that is 

 the reason we are maintaining and building up such expositions as you 

 have here, just as they are going to have a splendid exposition in the 

 Panama-Pacific Exposition next year. We need these two things and how 

 to get them is the greatest problem we have today. If this Congress can 



