220 MICHIGAN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The method, as now pursued, of receiving tickets of all kinds at any or all of the gates, 

 is of doubtful expediency. The abandonment of the plan adopted a few years ago in 

 Detroit, of requiring the attendants' tickets to be taken at a certain gate, without a more 

 extended trial was not good policy. Though not by any means a perfect system, still 

 it was generally conceded that it was a vast improvement upon the old system, and did 

 much good, and saved money to the Society and largely assisted in preventing the mis- 

 use of Attendants' tickets. Why the plan was abandoned, after so many of the Direct- 

 ors spoke favorably of its workmgs, is as inexplicable as many other tilings that tran- 

 spire in the official transactions of this Society. 



As a financial question, the rules that govern the admission of people to the 

 Fairs of the Society, is an important one, and the greatest necessity exists for 

 some plan, that shall proportion the receipts of the Fair to the number of people who 

 are admitted through its gates, during its continuance. The large number of peojile 

 who are believed to have attended the Fair last fall, and the lightness of the receipts 

 at the gates have caused a good deal of comment, and I fear justly so. The question 

 arises. What are the causes':' They are not to be found in the Treasurer's department, 

 for the Treasurer is charged for every ticket that goes into his possession, and he must 

 return every unused ticket to the Financial Committee, and those used must be ac- 

 counted for at their face value in money, at the close of the Fair, or before his accounts 

 are settled by said Committee, the Treasurer being obliged to make good any or all 

 mistakes of his clerks or himself, and being under good and sufficient bonds for the faith- 

 ful performance of his duties. We must then look elsewliere for the trouble. After care- 

 fully watcWng the matter for a number of years, and observing the numbers who go in 

 at the gates, I am of the opinion that some part of this real or apparent deficiency is 

 due mainly to two causes. First, the large number of complimentary tickets possessed 

 by those going through the gates, which the gatekeepers must accept. That the num- 

 ber of these tickets used last fall was inordinately large, I know, from the fact, that so 

 many were presented at the gates, and accepted. If any doubt exists in the minds of 

 the Directors, they can easily satisfy themselves on that point bj^ examining the con- 

 tents of the ticket-boxes. By what authority these tickets are so largely distributed, I 

 have failed to discover. 



A marked feature in this matter is. that so many are jaresented by persons living in 

 the towns where the Fairs are held, and who by their expensive carriages and equip- 

 ments are perfectly able to pay their fares, and who liave no more right to these tickets 

 than the poorest washer-woman who, if she sees the Fair at all, has to pay her hard- 

 earned fifty cents. 



Another cause of this discrepancy arises from the fact that so many attendants' tick- 

 ets are fraudulently used by persons who have no right to them. That Superintendents 

 who issue them are oftentimes imposed upon is true, and it can hardly be avoided; but 

 that well-dressed ladies, three in a carriage, of good pattern, dravi^nby a good horse well 

 caparisoned, should go througli the gates each presenting a yellow ticket on which there 

 is no value, is a glaring fraud; and this is no exceptional case, as any or all of the gate- 

 keepers at the main gates will testify. 



The question will be asked. How can this be remedied? The answer is easy : Some 

 rule forbidding the printing and use of complimentary tickets to any extent. Make 

 somebody responsible for their good use (if necessary at all), and say to whom such 

 tickets shall be issvied and for what purposes, and you will have taken a step in the right 

 direction. 



As to the attendants" tickets, would say, have one gate where they must be presented 

 to be good, and not wide enough to pass a carriage; also that no female be allowed to 

 pass the gates with such a ticket, and if presented, take it and keep it, but do not allow 

 her to pass on it, for it represents no value. If lady attendants need something to pass 

 them, have tickets for their especial use. 



It is no pleasant task to make such a statement, but such are the facts as I see them. 

 I have also learned that to get abuses remedied it is necessary to speak plain. I have 

 tried honestly and fearlessly to point out two causes which seemed to demand investi- 

 gation, and which if true should be remedied; and it will require the best thought of this 

 Board to grajsple with it in a manner that will stop theii* future abuse, and at the same 

 time be for the best interests of the Society. 



My opinion has not been formed from last faU's experience alone, but strengthened. 



Ail of which is respectfully submitted. 



WILLIAM BALL. 



Superintendent Sliarp, of Division P, reported as follows: 



