The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-01-23
"The New England Rum Fair"

"The New England Rum Fair"
"The public appearance of that money
making ring known as the New England
Agricultural Society is confined to an
annual fair of weeks duration, but
the influence of this autumn debauch is
perennial, and may be counted as the
most degrading to which the rising rural
population of the six states is subjected.
These are grave charges, but scandalous
facts are back of them. We have repeat
eddy referred to the subject, and now it is
most encouraging to find The Farmer of
Boston adding the weight of its helpful
word to that of The Homestead of Spring
field, The Press of Providence, The Watch
man of Vermont, and other papers, against
a repetition in 1884 of this outrage upon
the agricultural public under the disguise
of alleged responsibility. In recent is
sue of the journal first named the ques-
ton is asked, what has the society ac-
complished during the nineteen years of
its existence p 1t was organized in 1854
ostensibly for the encouragement of
agriculture in all its branches, both by
she application of the best intellectual
efforts, and by exhibition of animals, pro-
ducts and machinery To what extent it
has belied this declaration let The Farm
eY's statement bear witness: take the
fair at Manchester, September, 1883, for an
example ; was that an exhibition to invite
attendance by the honest farmer and his
family, or any citizen who takes pride in
his manhoodp Was that show anything
to be proud of for the members of the
society, or the friends of agriculture ?
w. ,,1t ba ~ had cod 70
greet and disappointment to all interested
in agricultural improvements, temperance
and morality? Was it not one Of the
most demoralizing exhibitions ever held
in the New England states p"
We cut the above from the New York
Weekly Tribune. In addition, the Tribune
quotes several paragraphs from the letter
of can Original Member" published in
a recent issue of the New England Farmer,
and reprinted by us in our issue of Janu-
airy 2. The exhibition in question was
held in Manchester, N. H., and the Mir
ron and Farmer of that city prints, under
date of January 10, what purports to be
a reply to the Tribune. We print this
reply, SO far as it refers to the question at
issue, emitting only a plea to the effect
that Manchester did its best in the mat
ter, which we do not doubt:
"The New York Tribune of last week
contains an article denouncing in the most
savage way the New England fair held in
this city last fall, which it characterizes
as a rum fair ian annual debaucb,' a
gathering of gamblers "a dog show,
which made everything hideous,' Fan out
rage upon the agricultural public and so
on, until the writer exhausts his stock of
explosives. All the Tribune knows or pre-.
tends to know about the subject, on which
it talks so fercely and with such an as
sumption of righteous indignation, it gets
from two or three New England papers
which are controlled by few soreheads,
who have from the first been the enemies
of the New England society because they
have never been able to control it and
purposes. Some of these men have been
fair managers themselves, and having
made sorry failures of the business are
envious of everybody who has succeeded.
Others are eaten up by an itch for the no
toriety which they think an election to
the directory of the New England society
would give them; and still others long to
get their hands into the society's treasury.
All of them think, of course, that the fair,
which they seldom attend, is run by a
ring; that it is only an annual debauch !;
that 1t has accomplished nothing for agri-
culture, and that the sooner it is abolished
and something put in its place, which
they can run, the better. Every winter
for fifteen years they have been scolding
about it, denouncing it, and declaring
that it must 60 in just the same words
and phrases which the Tribune now &C.
cepts as plain statement of recent and
startling facts. What they think, or say
they think, matters little in New England,
where everybody is accustomed to their
bowling and knows why they howl; but
it is to be regretted that paper like the
Tribune should join in the chorus, and if
it will give us its attention we will lay be-
fore it few plain facts that will, we hope,
send it into better company. 1t is true,
as alleged, that there was dog show at
the last fair, and it is also true that it was
one of the most interesting features of the
exhibit; one that farmers as we'll as others
examined closely, and which resulted in
putting upon the farms a good many
trusty and valuable dogs in the place Of
the worthless ours that were there before.
1t was feature which was in no way de-
moralizing, disgraceful or damaging to
anybody, and, in common with most who
saw it, we hope to see it repeated next
year. 1t is true, secondly, that the raging
horse-race was present. and it is true,
further, that out of the proceeds of this
came large share of the money that
paid the premiums on cattle, sheep and
swine, and other farm products. At least
ten thousand people paid the admission
fee to the fair expressly to see the trotting,
and the farmers, who enjoyed the races as
much as anybody, carried away the
money. Probably there was betting on
the races, but if there was it was done
under cover, where nobody who wasn't
hunting for chance to gamble was any
the wiser for it, and, so far as we can find
out, the horse-trotting was as free from
Objectionable annexes as it ever is. As
to gambling in other pleasing forms
being freely permitted by the officers, tina,
is sheer fiction, and 30 is the statement
that the society allowed the free sale Of
rum and realized 81, 800 from this source
alone 1t was expressly stated to every
man who rented ground in the park fol