ENTEENTH DISTRICT A.GRICDLTDRA] ASSOCIATION. ~>7'.> 



exhibition of Swiss productions held ;it Zurich. < Mi a charming spot a1 the 

 foot of the lake near the place, where were found the lake dwellings of pre- 

 historic man, were erected several Large wooden pavilions, beautifully sim- 

 ple in adornment. In these were artistically displayed all the productions 



of the loom, the forge, the workshops, and factories, the forests, and mines, 

 and waters of Switzerland. Here were silks, L r orL r eous as the robes of east- 

 ern monarchs. The silk produd of Switzerland is unexcelled in quantity 

 and quality, and yet Switzerland has no known advantages over this region 

 in raising the worm or its t'ood. or in manufacturing the fabric. The dis- 

 play of watches was very tine. A locally invented screw-making machine 

 was exhibited at work, which seized an iron rod and used it up rapidly and 

 mechanically, cutting it into lengths, turning the screw, cutting the head. 

 and dropping the finished produd constantly into a hopper. It would he 

 endless to recite all the objects of interest in this purely domestic exhibi- 

 tion, showing what an isolated mountain people, with few resources, except 

 industry and ingenuity, could accomplish. The lesson, to my mind, is 

 obvious. You have .very advantage which Switzerland has: many which 

 it has not: and we in the United States are especially blessed that we are 

 not burdened as Switzerland is. in common with all Europe, with a military 

 system that consumes the best years of all our young men in a slavery in 

 all hut name, and oppresses with a load of taxation that crushes the hearts 

 Of the people. 



General Grant said, after his return from a trip around the world, that 



the chief lesson he had learned from it was the fact that the American 

 people are the most happily circumstanced of any on the earth. My obser- 

 vations abroad lead me to appreciate the justness of this remark. 



That this happy condition may he the lot of the dwellers among these 

 mountains, now and hereafter, is my fervent wish. 



