Exhibition of i 872 —opening Address . 
I 4 I 
OPENING- ADDRESS. 
BY B. R. HINKLEY, PRESIDENT. 
Delivered on the Fair Grounds, Sept. 24, 1872. 
Gentlemen of the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society: 
Fellow Citizens: Notwithstanding the unfavorableness of the 
past season in some portions of the state, and the present dis¬ 
tractions of an exciting political canvass, the producing classes of 
our people have been so far successful in their labors as 
to have been encouraged to bring, in great variety and num¬ 
ber, the products of their industry to this place of our an¬ 
nual gathering. And there is also good reason to believe 
that the attendance of visitors will show that all the adverse influ¬ 
ences combined have not been sufficient to make this exhibition 
an exception to the long list of successes which have character¬ 
ized the fairs of this society, and which have contributed to give 
it high rank among the leading agricultural societies of the Union. 
In proceeding to inaugurate this exhibition, I am constrained by 
the unalterable purpose that this shall be my last personal utter¬ 
ance in an executive capacity, to make my “ Opening Address ” 
an occasion for a brief review of the society’s past history, as well 
as for an enunciation of the principles in accordance with which its 
affairs have been admirfistered during my official connection with 
it, and with which, in my judgment, they require to be adminis¬ 
tered in the future in order to accomplish the objects for which it 
was formed. 
The society was organized and put into operation in that year, 
memorable in the history of industry, when in the Crystal Palace, 
at London, there were gathered together in one place the repre¬ 
sentatives and products of all the civilized nations of the w T orld— 
the year 1851—just twenty-one years ago. 
The constitution they adopted, like the one now in force, de¬ 
clared the objects of the society to be “ to promote the advance¬ 
ment of agriculture, horticulture and the mechanic and household 
