We have members, I think, in every county of the state, haven’t we, President Cashman?

The President:  Yes.

[Illustration:  Mr. S. P. Crosby, St. Paul.]

Mr. Crosby:  If we only have two or three in some counties, if they would make an effort to see every representative and senator and talk the matter over, that is what is going to count.  It is a year or something like that before the legislature meets again, but it don’t want to be forgotten, and if every live member of this society will put his shoulder to the wheel, I don’t think there is any possible doubt but what we will succeed and have the bill pass.

We broke the ice last winter and got acquainted with some of the people.  And another thing I want to say, and that is if that bill the next time is not reported favorably out of the committee I would be in favor for one of having it reported to the house or senate without any recommendation of the committee.  I talked with probably fifteen or twenty, I should say, of the different members of the senate and house about that bill, and it had a great many friends both in the house and senate.  Some of them came to me and said:  “Crosby, why don’t you put it in the house, and we will show you how we will vote.”  There was a whole lot of feeling that way, because if men investigate and find out what the society is standing for and what it has done they will know it is a perfectly meritorious bill.  I think with a reasonable amount of work we will accomplish a great deal, and we shall succeed eventually in having the bill passed.

Another matter that is proper to speak of now is to see where the members of this organization stand.  I am going to tell you something.  I didn’t hear it personally myself, but I did hear it from Mr. Yanish.  He is a man of veracity and he told me.  He said in the last legislature the Hennepin delegation used all the strength they could against this bill.  If it is a rivalry between the two cities, St. Paul and Minneapolis when we propose to put the building in neither Minneapolis or St. Paul, but practically midway between the two cities, if that rivalry can go to that extent, it seems to me mighty small business.

We were very careful not to conflict in any way with the state university in getting any of those appropriations they were asking for.  They wanted big sums of money.  We didn’t conflict with them, we didn’t do anything against them.  We made a gentlemanly campaign and put our case before the committee.  There were a number of members who were favorable, but of course there were thousands of bills in there, and it didn’t get out of the committees, as I said.

We see more and more every year what great necessities there are for a home for this organization.  We ought to have a building like as the plans given in Mr. Latham’s last report, a building that would have a fine auditorium, a fine exhibit room, a place where we are at home instead of going from place to place and meeting at different places and not having the adequate facilities we ought to have.