908 
T. J. GUNNING. 
It would be a gross injustice to the present State veterina¬ 
rian to say, as some have said, that he had no right to accept 
the office. He had the same right and privilege as any other 
citizen of this State, and just so long as he can find men who 
are willing to kneel at his footstool he is likely to hold his pres¬ 
ent office, and I shall be the last to criticise him for so doing. 
Gentlemen, let me ask you how long you think the State 
work could be carried on if every graduate who is now doing 
State work would refuse to work and all other graduates do 
likewise? Let me say to you that it would not be forty-eight 
hours until there would be a few men at Springfield hunting 
for the point of the compass to find out “ where they were at,” 
and during that forty-eight hours the profession would rise to a 
place of honor and recognition such as it never has known in 
the State. 
Gentlemen, in the course of my remarks I may have said 
some things that would ruffle the feathers of some brother prac¬ 
titioner, but I believe that friendly criticism will often do more 
good than cowardly silence. I wish to say to you to day that 
just so long as the graduates of this State are willing to submit 
to the dictates of political wire-pullers, our colleges and our 
profession will never receive just recognition. 
The live-stock interests of this State are ready and willing 
to do us justice and lend friendly assistance at any time, but we 
must first show that we stand united and are making a strong 
pull and a pull altogether for the good of each and all. 
I hope that the day is not far distant when every graduate 
in this State will stand under one banner and take as their 
watchword : 
“We live for those who love us, 
For those who know us true, 
For the wrongs that need resistance, 
For the rights that need assistance, 
For the future in the distance, 
And the good that we can do. ’’ 
