The herald., 1896-12-05
OUR AGRICULTURAL FAIR"

| To the Editor of the Herald: In your
| iesi1e of the Sd you have an altlcle oii
| our Agricultural Fair. 1t Is tHe mos
| marvellous production 1or Iliss.a'
| ments, for blunders ana IoI go d a'H, 49,
information and facts that L nave ere ,
seen in so prominent paper as me
Herald What the motive OF the Wrl.et
may have been | cannot lmaglne' -
certainly cannot work any Roou ~ a.. A..
not be a benefit to create preJuulce Al
the minds of the people asalms. !, ..,~ ,'t,y
agement which stands out prominently
as the equal to put it conserVatlVely,o OF
any other fair association IN tne stat
Sacramento. with a large state aploplia-
ton, did not pay expenses; Stochtoll sile
same, while San Jose could not nora
fair at all. The breeders mee'ihs, ~ ne
held at Santa Rosa, had to be ADAM
doued. These are prominent places thdt
have the advantage of being In close ana
cheap communication with san \ fiancis da ono
co having a population of nearly ooo'oOo
vet they have been failures; whereas, I-os
Angeles without any state alo mas nliue
improvements and has money IN paHk.
If the writer of the article intendeo IL
as fling at the directors, then belieTe
me il is very unjust. for DetteI poalo
would not know how to select Iney arr
honest and honorable men, Win that
special quality of being able TO enter ~ ~
the duties of directors and of deVotlne an
the time necessary to achieve success
without reward, rarely ever gettlhS
thanks They should have commenda-
tion and praise in order TO strengthen
their hands and to encourage them III
their efforts for the benefit of the pupllc.
The writer of the article referred TO
saws that the state taxes the people for
agricultural fairs The association mas re-
ceived no state aid for the last tWo
years: so there is nothing in that charge'
AS TO "high-class race programs TN"
author of the article is not aware that
we gave the most liberal purses or any
association in the state, except the state
| fair. AS to giving a grand horse snow,
| ! scarcely know what he means. he iS-
| nores. or he don't know that TINS as
| sociation offered and awarded premiums
| for all kinds of horses raised III cantor
| MIA IT, however he means morse
| show such as society or the 400 give IN
| New York and San Francisco, then
would say such shows have never beeh
given by any agricultural association
| anywhere.
AS 10 the "snide affairs with inslac
rings and pool men," that all SOUNDS
| very fine when one wishes to pander or
| wishes to create prejudice, but Will not
| aid the prosperity of our track or falr-
| grounds. The races here are as falr ana
| honest as anywhere. That all are
| square or honest can not be claimed any
where yet there is much more talk than
| fact. much more smoke than fire. for it
| is ever the nature of man to blame some
| one when he has lost money.
| That this association is for good VIII
| be seen by the following figures of money
! paid and expended this year:
! Premiums for live stock. agrl-
cultural products and manufac-
lures ................'' loo-
| Purses for racing. H. 3pZ
| paid for labor 1857
! Buildings and Improvements ..... l5!l
| Advertisinp and nrintine 795
| OF course the races have the lion
| share, but these, too, are the only thinS
| which draw crowd and makes it pos
sibie to give premiums and to advertise
and pay labor.
AS to his reference to the Downay
fair it does not seem fortunate for his
side, for that association has been out
of business Tor seven years. / Will say
too, in closing. that if there is any indl-
vidual or combination of persons who
wish to try any experiments of giving
races or fairs. there will be no trouble
for them to get the fair grounds on very
easy terms. Again, if there is an indi-
vidual in your eye who will make an
ideal and progressive director he can
be appointed in my place, for life is too
short to work for nothing simply to get
the roasting of some scribbler who should
aid us and sustain us instead of creating
i'll will and prejudice, which only tend to
make it very difficult to attain success.
L. ]. ROSE.