Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-10-09
Of the lists or to recall them. at this time

OF the lists, Or uiciu, ul tiiisSr
they are altogether too numerous.
1t is not probable that the State Grange
will be able to suggest remedies for these
ills. Boards of Agriculture for years have
labored in that direction, and have made
but little progress. They are driven to
make up very much to their premium lists
by pressure of varying interests, and the
demands of special producers and manu-
facturers instead of their own sense OF
Justice There seems to have been lack
of breadth of consideration, something of
lack of courage and long continuing
failure to rise to the true level of the pur-
pose of awards at fairs. They should
never be treated as financially compensatory,
or as other than tokens of merit. 1t is
an open question whether the entire premi-
UNI list system, so far as money awards are
concerned, should not be abandoned We
are strongly inclined to believe that a sys-
TEN of ribbon decorations, medals and GER
tifcates, would be far preferable. The
growers of new product, the manu-
builder of new machine, never parade to
the world the amount of the premium re-
ceiyed. If it has advertising value at all,
they never go beyond the announcement
" first premium awarded to, etc. The sum
of money, therefore, cuts no figure in the
case, so far as the value of an award to the
exhibitor is concerned. What he desires is
the Judgment of the association that his
article is best" and it matters nothing
| whether the token is So or S25. BY abolish
| ing utterly the money premiums, and sub
shutting decorations, q great economy
would be conserved, and a test applied to
the charge that our people must be 81 paid ="
for exhibiting goods at our fairs, or they
will refuse to do so, an allegation we do not
credit, since every exhibit worth showing
costs its owner far more to place it in COM
petition than the usual awards would COM
pensate for But goodly portion of eX-
hibitors are of class that might well be
compensated, at least in part. The farmer,
who at heavy outlay labors for de-
sired result upon his soil, and places
the evidence of itupon exhibition, does so
not with view to any advertising value,
or any future gain by reason of the exhibit,
but in the general interest Of agriculture.
So, too, is the case with such as show
stock, who are not dealers or breeders in
commercial sense These exhibitors have
a wholly different motive from that of the
patentee of a washing machine, the manu-
facturcr of piano, or the dealer in new
article of trade The decoration system,
however, might well be supplemented by
a distribution of partially compensatory
funds in proportion to merit and utility, as
adjudged by deliberative board.
But ali this matter is an open question
with us in California. 1t is not to be
settled by the decoration" suggestion out
of hand, nor by any report the State
Grange can formulate at one sitting. 1t
would be wise for that organization to
commit the whole subject to a thoroughly
competent commission to examine all
known premium systems of the world,
search out the defects of our own, and
present the result of It's researches a year
hence in an exhaustive report, accompanied
by recommendations 1t is a matter of
reform, and as such must be approached
with elaboration, and not be -" fixed up
by suggested patchwork. Any such
commission taking up the subject should
be representative, not only of agriculture
but of art, mechanical industry, commerce
and general business interests.