338 Annual International Exhibitions. (July, 
ment, more in the interests of respective trades than of an 
unsympathising public. With regard to the present system 
he argues that the ‘‘conditions under which they occur, the 
brevity of their existence, the multiplicity of similar objeéts, 
the impossibility of a systematic arrangement, make it all 
but impossible that any profit should be derived from them 
except to those already acquainted with the subject. Inter- 
national Exhibitions,” he goes on to state, ‘‘ might be 
utilised less for the purpose of increasing the number of 
people possessed of technical education, than for raising the 
level of knowledge among the classes already possessed of 
the fullest information regarding each of the subjects repre- 
sented at the Exhibition.” And this information once ac- 
quired should, it is furthersuggested, be rendered permanently 
available to the country by being embodied in museums. 
Theoretically, this suggestion looks very well upon paper, 
but practically we very much doubt the possibility of its being 
carried out. The true advancement of manufacturing in- 
dustry will, we confidently predict, never be demonstrated 
in such exhibitions, for in most trades there are so many 
secrets—each manufacturer possessing certain knowledge 
of his art which is not patented or otherwise divulged to his 
competitors in trade—that it is impossible to hope that the 
ultimate stage of advancement and knowledge will ever be 
represented in public exhibitions. Indeed, it is to these ex- 
hibitions chiefly that we owe the vast amount of foreign 
competition in manufactures, not only abroad, but even in 
our own markets. 
Whatever may be the next stage of International Exhi- 
bitions, it is to be hoped that a reasonable time will be per- 
mitted to elapse before anything else of the kind is at- 
tempted ; indeed, it seems necessary that such should be 
the case, for, the present annual series having come to a 
premature end, a fresh system and organisation will neces- 
sarily be required before anything new can be attempted. 
