190 Transactions of the American Institute. 



good wages for many tliousands of hands, cliieilj "vromen and young 

 persons of both sexes. 



For the past four or five years vigorous efforts have been made to 

 weave broad silks, poplins, grosgrains, satins, serges, foulards, etc., 

 for dress goods and other purposes. Of the success of their efforts 

 you may judge from what you see in the silk department of this fair. 

 Some of the goods so made are sold as foreign goods, and some, I am 

 proud to say, are honestly sold as American silks. 



May I be allowed here to say a word to the ladies on this matter of 

 prejudice in favor of foreign goods. There is an old saying that 

 " Dear bought and far fetched is good for ladies ;" but that saying is 

 not American — it belongs to times of ignorance and to another 

 country. 



Ladies, do not, therefore, act upon it. The best ribbons and trim- 

 mings you now use are of American make, though sold to you as 

 foreign, and the same applies to many of the silk dress goods you 

 wear ; and I know that the American goods are more honestly made 

 and less sophisticated than many of the foreign goods which are 

 " made to sell." I know a lady, the wife of an American silk manu- 

 facturer, who went into an up-town store and asked to see some 

 American silks. " Oh !" said the smirking clerk, " we do not keep 

 domestic goods ;" and he thereupon showed her as foreign goods 

 some which she knew were made by her husband. "While we were 

 arranging for this fair, I asked an American-manufacturer to exhibit 

 some of his goods. " Oh !" he replied, " I cannot do that ; it would 

 spoil my trade ; all my goods are sold as imported goods ; and to 

 avoid the domestic taint, they are delivered through a third party." 



Daughters of America! rise above this prejudice and buy the goods 

 which are made by the nimble fingers of your poorer sisters. We say 

 prejudice, and we speak advisedly. We have the same raw silk, the 

 same colors, and the same help as the foreigner has. We have better 

 machinery, superior skill, and more enterprise than he has. There- 

 fore, to say that we cannot make as good silks as he can, is to be 

 prejudiced. 



The silk trade has never had any such association as the wool trade 

 has ; therefore, our statistics are not so full or complete. I hope, 

 before another fair is held, we shall be better prepared in this par- 

 ticular. We can, however, give you some general particulars from 

 which you will gain an idea of the extent of the silk trade at the 

 present time. • 



