No. 108.J 105 



to make this Institute the great National Repository of American art 

 and industry, and raise it to an eminence surpassing any similar esta- 

 blishment in the United States, and rivalling, in time, any in the 

 world. It would soon present a collection of every improvement in 

 machinery and manufactures; of all the implements of agriculture; of 

 every article in domestic economy, and every patent for the advance- 

 ment of the arts and sciences. Here would be deposited copies or 

 models of all the inventions for facilitating and expediting the labors 

 of the farmer, embracing plows in all their variety, with every ma- 

 chine adapted to modern horse-hoeing and horse-planting husbandry. 

 Should he ask where he must go to see and examine these inventions, 

 instead of being told that he must necessarily traverse every section 

 of the city, and spend hours in listening to perplexing dissertations 

 upon the merits of this, and the demerits of that, he would be direct- 

 ed to the American Institute. You will see at a glance every imple- 

 ment, from the dung-fork, to aid you in fertilizing your ground, to 

 the threshing and smut machines, to prepare your grain for the flour- 

 ing mill. There you will find a display of the ingenuity and talent 

 of the land, adapted to every branch of your vocations, and to every 

 section of the country. These you may examine at your leisure, and 

 select with judgment. Inventive talent would here see, in conveni- 

 ent arrangement, all the complications of machinery connected with 

 the mechanic arts, and be enabled to compare and decide upon their 

 capabilities, as well as the modifications and improvements of which 

 they were susceptible, in order to a< complish any desired result. 



Strangers visiting the city, and wishing to purchase any of the 

 various articles of domestic manufacture, would resort to this place 

 for information, which could be obtained no where else so easily or 

 satisfactorily. There they would find in every variety, all articles 

 they might be in quest of; could make their selections from observa- 

 tion and comparison, having the benefit of access to the reports of 

 the best qualified judges, as to their respective merits, to aid them 

 in their decisions; and having decided, would be directed at once to 

 the manufacturer or his agent. 



Duplicates of every useful invention now in the patent office, 

 would soon be placed here, the inducement being a certainty that they 

 would be seen by a far greater number of persons, than could have 

 access to them in Washington; and if connected with machinery, the 

 proprietors would have the additional advantage of being enabled to 

 exhibit them in operation at any moment, by means of a permanent 

 steam power upon the premises. 



Here also should be suitable accommodations for holding our an- 

 nual Fairs, in a style commensurate with the magnitude of the enter- 

 prise. The commodious and well arranged libraries and reading 

 rooms, would attract the attention of all persons in search of infor- 

 mation on subjects connected with domestic or foreign improvements, 

 and the whole, in due time, stand upon a lead with the most celebra- 

 ted similar institutions in Europe. To arrive at this distinction, we 

 must aim at it, and never indulge the idea that it is unattainable. If 



[Senate No. 108.] 14 



