St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-09-15
THE STATE FAIR.

THE STATE FAIR.
1t is no longer question of keeping
the State Fair on its feet. Active bust
ness intelligence. united with earnest
Individual endeavor, has succeeded in
bringing the institution up to self
supporting basis, and in planting it on
an enduring foundation. The only
question for the future is how to make
it each successive year more and more
of success: and there is no better
time for discussing this question with
reference to the next Fair than while
the events of the last Fair are still fresh
in mind. 1t is so much easier to criti-
else the dOings of other people than to
shape a correct course of conduct for
ourselves that almost every one who
visited the late Fair imagined that he
could have managed it more success
fully than it was done, and yet when
asked to outline the details OF
their ideal management, perhaps not
one in a thousand could suggest any
substantial Improvement. There may
have been some slight mistakes and
OyerSights, yet the impartial judgment
of the people of the state must be that
President BUSHNELL and his associates
merit the gratitude of the farmers of
Minnesota for the successful manner i'll
which they conducted the last fair.
The fact that it closed in sound finan-
cial condition is matter of graduation.
Most excellent order and discipline
were preserved. Exhibitors were
treated fairly and literally. The ex-
hibit of live stock, machinery and agri-
cultural products was as good as is to be
seen at any fair in the whole land. We
have no less eminent authority for this
statement than the word of the secre-
tary of agriculture himself. We have
also the same authority for saying that
the Hamline fair grounds are the
loveliest in the world, while the accom-
modations are uneXcelled. The various
entertainments that were provided
proved attractive, and every visitor
went away from the fair grounds in a
good humOr.
So much for the last Fair. Now for
the next. The present management
has done good work by establishing
permanent bureau of information in
connection with the association. They
want to keep this up, and improve upon
it until it becomes of as much value to
the people as the establishment of a
state agricultural department. To do
this the Fair association will want to
cooperate with and have the co-opera-
Of fofa al fo,.
management and the agricultural de-
partment of the state university. Then,
another important matter is, as the rev.
enueS of the association increase, to in
crease the amount of premiums to eX-
hibitOrs. as an inducement to the farm
erS to take more active il terest in the
exhibition. The farmers and the eX-
hibitiOn of farm products should be
the prime consideration in the manage
ment of any fair association. Next
Gomez the curiosity seekers and the
amusement hunters, the people who 90
to the fairs to see the sights and to be
entertained. As the principal revenues
come from these classes, they must be
catered to. 1t is come to be regarded
entertainment; and yet, in many in
stances. it turns out to be the rockieSt
attraction of the fair. What we have to
suggest is that the number of races be
curtailed and the size of the purses be
increased. One good race between
horses of reputation is worth more than
a whole week of scrub races, and the
m IN
course is to tempt them there with the
size of the purse that is to be won.
This suggestion should be remem-
bered by future state fair manage
ments. Another improvement is in
the line of the one inaugurated
by the managers of the last
Fair, by filling the interval between the
races with amusing entertainments that
will keep the minds of the crowd in the
grand stand occupied. Still another
suggestion is that hereafter more atten-
ton be paid to the aesthetic features of
the exhibition. The bare and graceless
appearance of the main building during
the late Fair was as humiliating to Wis
itorS as the paucity of the exhibit in the
art gallery. The artistic cereal display
in Agricultural hall gave emphasis by
comparison to the poverty of decOra-
tions in the two buildings where the
spirit OF 8StheticiSm was supposed to
reign. Instead of using the center of
the main building for a show stand of
some organ manufacturer, how much
better it would have been to have had
magnificent floral display such as
they had at the Rochester fair.
1t was source of mortifica-
ton, too, to many, that the only
picture that attracted attentionin the
art gallery was one that was unfit for
public exhibition. These criticisms are
not made in a spirit of cenSure, but
that matters of real Importance to an
sight of IN the rush of next year. There
is one other matter we wish t. bring to
the attention of the State Fair and
Minneapolis managers jointly-and that
is, the necessity fer establishing sYs-
TEN of exchange whereby both can be
advertised together and visitors can
enjoy equal facilities in obtaining a
sight of both shows, Both institutions
are permanent fixtures, and it is to the
interest of both to work together. 1t
will have to come to that sooner or
later, and the sooner the different man.
agements understand it the better it
will be for all.
THE FRENCH ELECTIONS.
Next Sunday general elections are to
be held in France for members of the
chamber of deputies. In this country
the election of members of congress