THE FAIR 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



This sreat Annual Exhibition of choice spe- 

 cimens of American art and industry, in many 

 of their important branches, vras favored -with 

 fine weather, and attracted, as usual a great 

 concourse of people, -who have, we apprehend, 

 been more dazzled and agreeably amused with 

 the beauty and variety of the show, than struck 

 with any visible and important step in the march 

 of improvement Some have suggested that the 

 recurrence of these .shows is too frequent to admit 

 of any verj- perceptible progress in the meliora- 

 tion of the arts and sciences and trades they are 

 designed to illustrate : stiE. they serve to keep the 

 public advised of -what can and has been done ; 

 and to keep cultivators, artisans and manufac- 

 turers, up to their mettle. The place of ex- 

 hibition, however, is altogether inadequate to a 

 thorough and convenient national d^lay of 

 that extensive and multifarious character, in a 

 maimer to do justice to the fabricators, or to 

 enable the public to see and examine every- 

 thing, as they ought with deUberation and con- 

 venience. 



The City authorities would weU consult the 

 welfare of their constituents by purchasing exten- 

 «ve groouds. and constructing an edifice, worthy 

 of the occasion, sufificientiy capacious, and ex- 

 pressly arranged for a foil and distinct exhibition 

 of every article : and an adequate number of 

 qualified persons should be employed, and well 

 paid, beside the presiding and executive offi- 

 cers, to aiTange and superintend the whole 

 exhibition in all its departments, and a clear and 

 precise ofiBcial prosrramme of each day's opera- 

 tions should be advertised in advance, and paid 

 for, in every daily journal in the city. It is 

 doubtful \vhether it %vould not be better to have 

 them like the Mechanics' Instirate in Boston, to 

 come round once in three years, instead of an- 

 nually. There ^vould then be time for improve- 

 ment in the various arts and mechanical inven- 

 tions, and a:rricultural implements, and animals, 

 and productions, to show itself distinctly: and 

 comminees of the ablest artisan.", practical men, 

 and men of science should be selected \vith 

 great caution : men of the highest character, 

 known thi-oughout the Republic for iheir skill 

 and proficiency, whose traveling expenses 

 should be paid and who wotild undertake, cor. 

 amore, to note and report upon whatever was 

 netr and important, as connected with the sev- 

 eral great branches of American industry — and 

 where no advance had been raaJe in anv. let that 



fact in like manner be noted. It would be an ob- 

 vious part of the duties of such committees, to 

 designate ^vhat is yet rcanting in the economy 

 of every pursuit, and for these desiderata, to 

 recommend suitable prizes to be offered ; and 

 more especially should liberal premitiins be pro- 

 posed for EssATS and Reports on subjects 

 cormected with the progress and the wants of 

 Agriculture and other pursuits, such as demand 

 and can only be illnstrated by careful experi- 

 ment or profotind scientific investigation. In- 

 vestigations from which no profitable result 

 is to be anticipated unless conducted by men 

 of deep research, whose time is their subsist- 

 ence, and who in this cotmtry are generallv ex- 

 pected to icork for nothins and find them- 

 selres ! 



Some timid calculators may at first be dis- 

 posed to object to these vie\\-s, as impracti- 

 cable, on the score of expen.ie ! But the few 

 who are invested with the noble trust of legis- 

 lating for a great and daily growing communitv 

 like this, should endeavor to look beyond the 

 day or the year, and to elevate their views to the 

 bight of their undertaking. Let the City Coun- 

 cils consider that an addition, sufficient in itself 

 to make a very considerable town, is annually 

 made, not only to the numbers but to the capa- 

 bilities of New- York, and let them frame tlieir 

 measures accordingly. 



Men in power are too apt to circumscribe 

 their views and action to the present state of 

 things, forgetting that almost every dav is sensi- 

 bly extending the horizon, and ausmentin? the 

 wants of a community, such as that of Xe«-- 

 York, which, even in the last three years, has 

 added more than fifty thousand to its numbers. 

 In 1S60. even before the boy. just entering his 

 teens, will have finished his scholastic education. 

 Xew-York wiU embrace within its precincts 

 T.50.000 people ! "What undertaking in the wav 

 of city improvements and public accommoda- 

 tions are beyond the requirement and capabili- 

 ties of such a population J And, after all. what 

 can be more beneficent or more remtmerarive 

 than liberal expenditures for public markets, 

 public exhibirionsL and fi^ee public lectures on 

 aU the elegant and useful arts, and all industrial 

 and scientific studies and pursuits? Av, and 

 for public amusements too ? Are not such in- 

 stitutions and lectures provided and sustained 

 by taxes levied on tangible property. And, 

 again, do not these public and free exhibitions 



