Page 107

 
BuTT= MlxiwxG. 
halting places in the course of life's stream - where one and all 
may give and receive counsel; give expression to ideas (even if 
they run counter to opinions held by the majority) without fear or 
favor? I think so; but of late years these conventions have to a 
great extent been beset with the importunities of designing men, 
who like the wrecker sets out his false lights to engulf and fleece 
his unwary victim; like the charlatan, with only aim to bleed your 
pockets; like the demagogue, who takes your time with false pre- 
tense to enable him to appear a champion, a shining light before 
his grange - under plea of right, do you and yours a grievous wrong. 
I will instance the cry against oleomargarine. It was started by 
designing men to further their own selfish ends, and they succeeded 
too. For the last few years this bugbear has taken, I may say, 
almost sole possession of these conventions, to the exclusion of 
other subjects of greater importance to your industry. The cry has 
been, and perhaps still is, popular; for the demagogue howls it with 
stentorian lungs. It is swimming with the current - easily done. 
While you can not supply the demand for butter at forty to forty- 
five cents per pound, there is no cause for alarm; your legitimate 
aim should be to increase the product and improve the quality of 
it. I suggest, take this bugbear with the demagogue; drive the 
nails home into the coffin, and bury them out of sight. Last month 
I plainly saw the effects of the course pursued, so indicated. At 
the Dairy Convention of Illinois, scarce a corporal's guard consti- 
tuted the asemblage; there was no interest manifest, and why? I 
"sueu an olu, experienced daaryman, one who, by the way, stands 
high in his calling -one who loves it. His reply was, that the con- 
ventions of late offered nothing new, and the old, threadbare sub- 
jects being discussed over and over again, had no charm for the 
thinking portion of tle dairy community. Hence the lack of inter- 
est. Was he right? 
I will change the subject and come to what I -intended to talk' 
about: Butter. 
To begin, I will state that I shall swim up stream, against the 
current, and trust you will neither swamp nor pull me under. I 
admire originality in thought, and when I find it my interest is at 
once enlisted. If one will restrain his natural prejudices and not 
allow bigoted intolerance to warp his judgment, very often one wil 
find valuable ideas in thoughts expressed by others, even if these 
107