The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1883-12-01
STATE EXPOSITION.
A SUGGESTIVE LETT f X r ROM
MR. EDW ARD ATKINSON

Wherein he Points out the Way to make
the Exposition both Novel and In
structivc.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE STATE CHRONI- /
GLE RALEIGH, n. c.:
Dear Sir In reply to your request for
suggestions relating to the proposed State
Exposition to be held in your city next
year, desire to submit few consi(era-
tions which it may be well for you to
think Of.
have never had any connection or in
tercst in ExpositiOns here or elsewhere,
except making two or three addresses Of
somewhat suggestive sort therefore
what | now say must not be considered as
the lesson drawn from any practical expc-
ricnce in con Iucting them. have served
once or twice as a Judge Of articles in q
special Department. but that is all the di-
rect connection which | have ever permit
ted myself to take. My observations,
however lead me to believe that the peo-
pie of this section, and perhaps of other
sections, have had enough of exhibitions
of the merely show kind. l mean those
containing great display OF various art-
cles admitted without discrimination aud
which are put on exhibition merely for the
purpose of advertising them, without much
regard to their quality or merit. There
has been so much Of this kind of rubbish
in most OF the recent exhibitions as to
have made it wearsOme in the extreme to
search amid show cases containing goods
which could be viewed much better in
shop windows or in the shops themselves,
for real original and Instructive objects,
inventions or machines to which attention
might be rightly called.
GIVE ADVERTISERS SEPARATE SPACE.
If then it is either eXpedient or necessa-
ry-as it may be in your case to include
a Bazaar for the advertisement and sale Of
goods and wares of all kinds, by all means
let separate wing be set apart for this
specific and we'll designated purpose. It
may be made very attractive. especially to
the people Of your State, who may not
have had a good opportunity to view eNhi-
bitiOns in distant places. | mention the
subject rather in reference to the plan and
order of your Exposition proper than
with a view of preventing you from lncor-
pOrating bazaar with the Object Lessons,
as they may be called, of your own State
and of the Industries of your own State.
| speak Of this the more readily because
your State has set such an excellent and
almost original example in the exhibition
at the New England Manufacturers and
Mechanics Institute, by the admirable and
scientific method in which the products Of
agriculture, its timber, its minerals, etc,
are placed on view and are really made
Object lessons, by which the future poten-
tiality Of your State may be comprehended.
1t being evident that you have among
your own citizens men who are thorough
ly capable OF presenting objects OF inter-
est in so thoroughly scientific a way, (you
may name Messrs. McGehee. Kerr and
others if you please) there need be no hes
itation in suggesting an extension OF their
methods over much wider range than a
mere display Of crude products. May |
suggest that
THE FUNDAMENTAL IDEA
of a State exhibition may we'll be
First. Just such a display of the pro-
ducts Of the soil, the mine and the forest,
and | may add in your case, of the bays
and rivers as will give the best impression
Of the natural or undeveloped resources OF
the State.
Second The systematic collection of
tools, implements and simple machinery
which can be brought within the purchas-
ing power of your citizens without the aid
of foreign capital.
THIRD. Finished products, manufactures
and the like.
In other words, You need the machinery
and tools of the lesser arts because the
foundation Of a prosperous State lies only
in the capacity of its own individual citi-
zens acting each for himself rather than
by corporations, to develop what may be
called the minor arts of life as condition
precedent to the establishment OF great
corporations. great factories and great
works of any kind owned by outside capt.
talists.
If you will run your eye through the
census list OF the arts which give the best
f1,n hnys of
sons and at the highest wages in what are
known as the manufacturing States Of the
Union. you will find your eye resting upon
the wheelwrght, the carriage maker, the
maker of pals and buckets, the tin smith,
the Gamer of fruits, the maker Of clothing,
the wood worker in all varieties Of that
art, the men who convert the metals into
the higher forms Of use, in short, the
craftsmen, artisans, and mechanics, rather
than operatives. These minor, but neces-
sary arts of life g i've subsistence to the
greatest number of persons and require
the least capital in ratio to their prOduc-
lion. They are to be developed from lCih
IN only, by building up the State on its
own resources in both men and materials,
and the means of development cannot be
imported from without in any great meas
ure, in the form Of complex machinery
which may be paid for by foreign capital
or by incorporated companies.
| have yet to see
THE IDEAL EXHIBITION
of resources, extended or developed in
this way. For instance, let us take up
land rice as an example, which represents
one of your new and future pOtentialites.
A part Of your building might well be de-
voted to the varieties Of the plant coupled
with examples of the soil where it grows
best, the best fertilizers, etc., and the
statement OF the conditions of growth );
then the simple machine whereby it may
be converted into merchantabe rice and
into all the by-products OF rice flour, rice
chaf siicated and made use of for the
covering of steam pipes, ETC.. the simple
forms Of the rice mill capable of doing
limited amount Of work but within the
reach, at moderate cost, of small farmers