462 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



what the result must be, and to my mind, farmers and stock raisers, and 

 all people whose business finds the means of reaching public attention at 

 this or any other agricultural Fair, should discuss the outlook, come 

 together with their minds filled with data and thoughts fresh from histor- 

 ical and geographical research; with principles gleaned from tables of 

 comparison, and garnered from agricultural reports, that we might take 

 advantage of the changes constantly going on around us, and thus be able 

 to cope with any adverse circumstance. 



Famine may overtake us and drive some into starvation, others into 

 bankruptcy, but this may be overcome by a prosperous year succeeding 

 the bad one; but the inexorable law of a numerous population, cannot be 

 answered by the hope of a change in the future. The future only multi- 

 plies the trouble; only augments • the difficulty. You can appeal to law, 

 but law cannot solve the problem. You can -appeal to politics, and frame 

 platforms, and pass resolutions, but platforms and resolutions don't feed 

 the hungry, nor clothe the naked, nor give labor to the unemployed. You 

 can form societies and pledge yourselves to overthrow the rich and declare 

 a jubilee, but the evil will not then abate. All these things have been 

 tried. The pages of history tells the same old story : The young nation 

 was happy, peaceful, prosperous; the old nation found the few rich, mighty, 

 and powerful; the many, poor, hungry, discontented, and unhappy. Revo- 

 lution came. The many, suffered the more; the few, still led and pros- 

 pered. 



The hope, if hope there be, lies in the intelligence of our people. We 

 must bring about manufactories, for ^very manufactory built is an outlet 

 for so many of the idle. To be happy and prosperous, we must have some- 

 thing useful to do. Therefore these Fairs are more beneficial than any per- 

 son here to-night can by the strongest mental effort determine. The man 

 who sees a new harrow, gets a new idea, finds a new field of thought, and 

 he has. a new impulse to do something useful he never thought of before. 

 The man who invents a new plow, that works better than the old ones in 

 use, has accomplished a national benefit. The man who raises a fine horse 

 or cow, and puts it on exhibition at the Fair, does something to add to the 

 material prosperity of the country, for his good stock takes the place of the 

 bad, and thus a change has taken place for the better. The merchant who 

 places the commodities of the world before your eyes in the Pavilion, teaches 

 you the lesson of industry, adds to the wealth of the community, and helps to 

 cheapen transportation, learns you where to find home comforts you never 

 dreamed of before, and awakens in your minds thoughts of invention and 

 improvement, and makes you ashamed of your idleness. The farmer who 

 places before your eyes a new and more valuable product of the soil, has 

 taught you another way to prosperity. The inventor who shows you the 

 products of his mind, and presents you an invention whereby your labor is 

 diminished and your income increased, has done something of which he 

 may be proud, and you certainly should be thankful. The good house- 

 wife, or dairyman, who shows to your eyes and delights your palate with 

 the nice yellow, creamy butter, has done something so noble that we all 

 sing his or her praise. We all want good butter, and the man who can 

 satisfy his palate with strong, streaked, rancid, hairy, milky, sour, soft, 

 white, nasty butter, ought to be compelled to board at a Chinese restau- 

 rant. The nice little woman, whose very existence is a ray of sunshine, 

 finds that she can do something at the Fair, and her delicate hands has 

 placed here and there some article of artistic needlework, or soft sweet 

 painting, or ornament or design that is copied or learned, and finds its way 

 into other homes to charm other lives. 



