28 New York at the World's Columbian Exposition. 



most State of the Union may filly share in the satisfaction which such a 

 conviction is calculated to produce. 



The representatives of the State are fulfilling a plain duty in urging 

 'New York to take such a place and make such a showing at the exposition 

 as her rank in the Union demands. It ought not to he necessary for 

 them to point out that the simplest dictates of self-interest require New 

 York to stand well in comparison with her sister States, no less in the 

 estimation of foreign observers than in that of our own people. Her 

 supremacy in most of the great departments of American commerce is 

 not so impregnable as to allow her to dispense with the visible manifesta- 

 tion of it which will be expected of her in the coming congress of nations. 

 The amplitude, richness and variety of the natural resources of the State 

 are generally known and acknowledged, but she is not relieved of the 

 necessity for their presentation at the World's Fair. And, apart altogether 

 from any question of immediate or ulterior profit, the prompting of State 

 pride ought to be sufficient to impel New York to make a display com- 

 mensurate with her imperial position. To secure such a result within the 

 necessarily short time which must elapse before the final allotments of 

 space are made will require prompt, vigorous and united action on the 

 part of a 1 the interests concerned in making the desired exhibit. 



The responsibility of various societies, associations and institutions, 

 sustained in whole or in part by the bounty of the State, for demonstrat- 

 ing to the world the value of the results which public aid has enabled 

 them to achieve, is no less obvious than is that of the private exhibitor or 

 of the State managers and commissioners for guiding them and others in 

 the discharge of a public duty. In the departments of agriculture, for- 

 estry, mining and education there is but little commercial impulse to stim- 

 ulate private individuals in making exhibits worthy of New York. 

 Higher considerations must influence the exhibition of the resources and 

 applied educational methods of the State. And even where the element 

 of commercial advantage does enter into the making of an exhibit it is 

 well that the sentiment of State pride should be awakened. 



In each of the districts which your commissioners represent there are 

 special interests of an industrial or agricultural nature which are charac- 

 teristic of the district. In trying to secure a proper display of these at 

 the World's Fair the district commissioners may fairly expect the active 

 and ready co-operation of their neighbors. 



There will be a disposition to reflect on the managers and commis- 

 sioners of the State exhibit should New York make a poor showing at the 

 World's Fair. But they are obviously powerless to do for the State what 

 its people will not do for themselves. They appeal, therefore, to the 



