STATE FAIR, 1874, 



THE POLICY OF HOLDING THE STATE FAIR IN THE SAGINAW VALLEY. 



To hold a State fair in the Saginaw Valley, a hundred miles north of the 

 Michigan Central Railroad, north of Lansing, the capital, and north of even 

 the Detroit & Milwaukee Railway, was rather a bold undertaking. In the 

 estimation of many it was rash and hazardous, while others esteemed it a wise 

 and true policy, to bring forward the resources of a valley whose influence is 

 bound to be immense, though just beginning to be felt, upon the great agri- 

 cultural interests of the State. 



A State Fair on the banks of the Saginaw River! That was an original, 

 fresh, venturesome enterprise! But the same policy that moved the State 

 Fair from the main Michigan Central line to the Grand River Valley, took it 

 also north to the Saginaw Valley, and we believe that this policy of develop- 

 ing and encouraging the agriculture of the newer counties and the northern 

 portions of the State, meets the cordial approval and co-operation of the 

 people of all sections of the State. It is a policy of life, of develojiment, of 

 progress, of success. Yes, success ! 



And what is s?/cces.s.^ Let us think of that a moment. It is not the mere dol- 

 lars received at the gates of a fair. Dollars may be the criterion of success for a 

 circus or a traveling hippodrome. If the receipts of a fair are to be the standard 

 of success, then the fairs held at Grand Rapids in 1873, and at East Saginaw in 

 1874, were marked successes, for the receipts of the two aggregated near 

 $70,000, enough for all purposes, enough to pay all bills, all expenses and all 

 premiums, with a handsome surplus left. But we hold it is not the money 

 received that constitutes a successful fair, unless the thousands of men and 

 women who attend it have gone home wiser and better for attending it, 

 stimulated and encouraged to work out the task of life with increased energy, 

 skill, thought, and intelligence, then even the fair may have been a failure, 

 though its receipts were $100,000. What were the effects of this fair upon the 

 Saginaw Valley ? 



And tohat is the Saginaiv Valley? One of the largest, the richest and best 

 watered valleys in the State of Michigan. He who for the first time explores 

 it finds himself greatly surprised at its length and breadth, its wealth, capital, 

 resources, industries, and general good prospects. 



The Saginaw river is first a curiosity and then a wonder. But few rivers of 

 the same length on the continent can show the same amount of industrial 

 enterprises along its banks that the Saginaw river can show. This Saginaw 



