Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1917-10-02
THE GREATER
IOWA MEETING
A Number of Good Talks at the
0rpheum Last Night-Web.
ster City Men Pressed
Into Service.
SMALL CROWD IN ATTENDANCE
LATE Young, Jr., Grant Chapman,
Mayor Clark, W. F. Cole and
Mr.. Van Houten Talk.

The Greater Iowa" meeting at
the Orpheum last night, under the
auspices of the Webster City Cham
Der of Commerce, failed to draw as
large crowd as was expected.
However, a fair sized audience was
present to listen to the various adj
dresses
H. NJ. Sparboe, president Of the
Chamber of Commerce, presided and
introduced the speakers. The first
address was delivered by LATE
Young, Jr. Mr.. Young said these
meetings were being held in various
parts of Iowa and were meeting
with success. The Greater Iowa
committee was organized in 1914
with membership Of 500, each
member contributing to it's support.
The headquarters are at Davenport.
The burden of supporting the or
ganization is too great for the pres
ent membership, and a drive is be-
ing made to increase the number to
5000. He thought Iowa lacked the
state spirit it should have and
pointed to the spirit of California,
Texas and Kansas, where the peo-
pie are at all times on the lookout
for powoo,oorc opd orn continually
advertising the resources of their
commonwealths. Iowa has never
done any great big thing. 1t has
not produced a great genius in lit
erature, the arts or sciences. The
people of this state are given too
much to the accumulation of wealth
at the. expense. perhaps, of nobler
and higher things. Nature has
done much for Iowa. Man has done
little. The people do not suffi-
GENTLY appreciate Iowa. They make
their money here and go elsewhere
to live upon the wealth created in
Iowa.
Grant Chapman Of Iowa State
college, Ames, who is in the city
in the interest of organizing a
county agricultural bureau and is
meeting with success in that line,
was the next speaker. He said
when there were 200 signers to the
petition to organize, pledging IS
apiece for the first year, the gov
eminent would defray the expenses
of employing county agent. The
government is doing this to increase
the food supply of the country,
which fact alone should commend
the movement to our people. The
organization will be known as the
Hamilton County Farm Bureau. and
Mr.. Chapman has already secured
the names of $50 petitioners. He de-
clared that under the exhilaratirg
influence of the drive for increased
production. every county in Iowa
has increased her production this
year by from 25 to so per cent.
Mayor Clark was the next speaker.
He said this was not the first time
he had been called upon to make an
impromptu talk, but it was the first
time that he was not given time to
prepare something. He expressed
himself as thoroughly in harmony
with the movement for a greater
Iowa. and in taking issue with LATE
Young that Iowa had never produc
ed anything really great, referred
to a citizen at Humboldt, declaring
that there was not man in the
whole world who could put him
upon his back. We may envy the
coal production of Pennsylvania, the
silver and gold mines of the west,
but the soil of Iowa produces more
in wealth each year than all of
these combined. The speaker sug-
gested that the best way to improve
Iowa in a material sense was to
have smaller farms. If the farms
around Webster City were cut into
forty acres, with good family on
each tract, it would increase the
wealth of this region as nothing
else could and would help Webster
City more than many manufacturing
plants.
w. +. Cole was the next to de-
liver an address, and he gave good
,ne. as he always does. He took is
;ue with some of the things said by ]
some of the speakers who had pre-
'eded him. In his Judgment Iowa
S the greatest spot in the world
md it has produced many great
men, He admitted there was room !
or improvement. He had received
letter short time ago asking him S
o help in the sale of liberty bonds, 6
md said he was going to take adj I