EXHIBITION—ANNUAL ADDRESSES. 
145 
ADDRESS OF CHARLES SEYMOUR, ESQ., OF LA CROSSE. 
Ladies and Gentlemen I do not understand the neces¬ 
sity of calling upon a humble printer and editor to come here 
to be sandwiched in between two live governors of two pros¬ 
perous and thriving northwestern states. I have merely come 
forward to tell you that in addition to the remarks of the ex¬ 
cellent governor of Minnesota, the governor of Wisconsin will 
come forward and address you. But if he is not told that this 
is a meeting of the Wisconsin Agricultural Society, he will 
come here and talk to you of a ship canal. (Applause.) 
This fair is a great success. I congratulate the officers of 
the society upon the great success which has attended this the 
largest and most creditable, and most inviting exhibition that 
has ever been held in the state of Wisconsin. This place has 
peculiar advantages for such a fair. It is a point at which the 
manufacturing in terests of the state can be largely represented. 
It is not in this country as in some cf the older countries of 
Europe, where hostile interests exist between the tillers of the 
soil and those engaged in manufactures. Here in this glorious 
country they are twin elements of a common strife and a com¬ 
mon prosperity. So the agricultural interests and the manu¬ 
facturing interests are closely blended and intimately identi¬ 
fied, and when any man, any politician, any jackass, or any 
other animal, attempts to alienate those interests or throw fire¬ 
brands in between them the sooner he is buried the better for 
the community at large. And yet after all, it is one of the 
most difficult things on earth to take our public men, those gov¬ 
ernors, or senators, those congressmen and drill into their 
heads the idea that their is anything in this country more im¬ 
portant than the debating ot some abstract question involving 
the question of straight or curly hair, or locating this or that 
man in office. But the large, broad, and deep question of all 
is, the question of cheap transportation in order to get clear of 
the products of your labor. And so long, farmers of Wiscon¬ 
sin as you do violence to your own profession,.so long as you 
10—Ag. Tr. 
