New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-05-09

4 HORIBUAD FhOJhtL
sNow Won see it and now you don't de-
scribcs pretty accurately tho condition OF iho
New-York Worlds Fair project. One day the
nublic is told by a dcspairing Commissioners
that the scheme Is practically dead the next
day another Commissioner lays hold OF q r.
norter and assures him that thc chances are ten
10 one il VIII recover from ITS present col
lansc and Get utar ijs legs. Meanwhile the
Guardians and promoters of the enterprise app
near 10 the public like % council OF doctors
gathered around the bed OF patient who is ~
the last extremity. A sanguine practitioner
botRfil Of future fees. calls attention 10 TIE
f,r, that the patient moves an cyeld or finger.
and prcdicts his recovery bnt The rest solcmnly
shake their heads If the Fair Is not dead 1t Is
ulainly I'M a moribuud condition. change oil
doctors and of medicines might possibly save
it, but wo fear there is mo- hope
We are sorry the project has come To- wreck.
We do not agree with those via" say ID is i"o
soon to plan for ho ding another great Exhibit
ton in this country The Centennial was held
in rho midst OF commercial and industrial stag
nation. but it wa- financially thc greatest -Ic-
cess i'm its way since The London Fair OF lo5z'
and il was of great value in culuFaiing thc
public taste and improving tho quality OF on.
manufacture and extending our iorrl- u trade.
The people Of thc country al large. however
did not begin 10 fairly understand how great
were H.. attractions and hoN beneficial Boz cdu-
caiionsl Influences unit. 10 Wa, almost over
and hundred, of thousand, missed the oppor-
tnnitv of visiting b. 10 served as an appetizer
aud aroused q d,maHd for more of thc same
sort Nearly ever, body vho went TO Ph'adrl-
phia IN 1876 would have come to Ncv-i olk 900
1888 If the project for Fair here bad n"i
miscaIricd, and % vast number of people would
have come who did NOT sec thc Paramount iarh
show from ignorance of it, merits or from
.tIaitoncd pccuuiary Circumstance. The
country is n0w in admirable condition to Great"
a magnificent exhibition and make % splendid
success. As o. foreign nations There is no
reason 10 think they would not participate
The fifty millions Of people in the Republic ale
much too important body of purchasers of
foreign good, for any country which ha- any
thing 10 sell Co neglect an opportunity 10 secure
their custom and their good will.
Why, them has The scheme fallen through
Mainly. we think, because it Was pitched upon
too low a KEY. Sc'hshnoss was the uppemost
motive all the time. Men were asked to con-
tribute 10 the capital stock ON the ground tlia,
they would get their money back with profit
In Philadelphia the funds were raised for the
Centennial 10y appeals to patriotism and local
pride Here an odor of speculation hung about
the cntcrpIise from the start. When the vital
question of n site WAS discussed, tho talk was
about the interests Of this OF that railroad com
pany. or thi. or that body Of real-esiate holders
H. -, .t...r
hollow, hommed in 10y PERCEPTIONS hills on one
side and malarial marshes on the other, APP
proachable only by a single line of railroad, and
remote from the city. When it became mani
fest that this selection had dampened what
little enthusiasm there existed in the metropolis,
in behalf Of the Fair, an attempt WAS made To
revive the dropping public interest by putting
General Grant in the Presidency Of the Com
mission. He held the place for n few week,
only. and threw it mp on the plea of other
engagements. Then the project was in a worse
shane than before, because the public, having
fl rood deal of confidence in Grants shrcwdncss
and practical business sense, concluded that he
had abandoned the enterprise as a man dis
mounts from o hopelessly lame horse which he
finds cannot be coaxod or spurTed into going
any further.
We have no doubt that an American World
Fair will be held az some time during the next
decade bat the present prospect is that Boston
OF Chicago or some other place where there Is
more active and better organized public SEN
timcnt than exists IN Ncw-York viii be It's loca-
ton. If Ncw-York secures the Far, after all
the bungling and laundering Of the past two
years. il will be by fresh hands and brains
taking hold Of the enterprise and placing Il on
higher plano than that Of the Mighty Dollar