EXHIBITION OF 1871—OPENING ADDRESS. 
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OPENING ADDRESS. 
Delivered on the Fair Grounds, September 26, 1871. 
BY B. It. HINKLEY, PRESIDENT. 
Fellow Citizens :—Notwithstanding some slight discourage¬ 
ments, hardly worthy of mention, the general circumstances 
under which we have met here to-day, are such as to demand 
the most hearty thanksgiving. 
Peace, at last restored to our country, prevails throughout our 
vast domain, while in the old world, wars and rumors of wars 
are sadly disturbing the peace of the nations. 
Health, too, reigns universal within all our borders, though 
pestilence stalks abroad in other lands. 
Moreover, while a numerous people of the ancient east are 
wasted by famine, with us the year has been crowned with 
plenty; so that all over our land the husbandman and they 
who depend on the fruits of his labor are gathered during these 
autumn days, to rejoice in common over the triumphs of our 
national industry. 
As an independent community, Wisconsin has been among 
the most highly favored of the whole sisterhood of states. 
Her agriculture is advancing with rapid strides. Her manu¬ 
factures have even outstripped her agriculture. Her com¬ 
merce has kept even pace with her productive industry. Her 
internal improvements are paving the way for a rapid advance¬ 
ment in every department of industry; and in her social con¬ 
dition she already compares favorably with communities that 
were more than a century old ere she had reached the years of 
her majority. 
As a society, we may also rejoice. The successes of last 
year, which were unprecedented, have been surpassed by the 
achievements of this. Our exhibition halls, with their capac- 
