The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-01-30

cannot vote, nor IL it expected that she
will control any of the electorate. Neither
will race, color, or previous condition or
s~eryituds be permitted TO influence in the
smallest way the Judgment CT the com
mittse. And 1t is not to be supposed
that hat mythical something, known as
Art, Will Re permitted to prejudice the
decision or bias the opinions OF the men,
bers of the committee.
What rules then shall be adopted for
choosing the test portrai', according to
the lights, or the ~livers, of the Joint
Committee on Art of the City Council?
We are Informed that no conclusions
as to. this have yet been reached, and in
dsed there Is set ample time for drafting
the same. But we understand that in a
general way some OF the members have
been lookin. up the American Kennel Club
bench rules and the tests for tracing tuter-
culosis in milk, and that valuable sugges-
tion has Teen ALREADY drawn from both
sources SO that 1t is not unlikely that
when finally made up the rules for iudg-
ing the competitive portraits will be Of a
character that commend themselves to
the Art Committee, just as the competi-
tion itself so evidently does.
1t is not easy, of course, to measure by
plumb and yard stick the substance of
things hoped for. or to accurately esti-
mate the proportions of The evidence OF
things not seen. A real hand painted
work of art is not to be sized up as you
would a quart Of peanuts. Full well does
the Art Committee of the City Council up
preciate all this. The significance OF the
task they have set themselves to do is not
lost upon them any mere than il Is upon
the public. No set of rules can probably
be drawn up that will exactly apply; even
art as understood by the Art Committee
of tbs City Council has not yet reached
the state Of an exact science. The result
of the competition may be the produc-
ton of portraits to which only the small
est few Of any rules that may be drafted
in advance will be found to apply or
under which they may be judged. How
a portrait will "come out'' is always un-
certain. II rules are drafted in advance OF
the painting of the portraits the commit
tee may find itself in the dilemma Of the
mar who dressed himself to go TO a we'd
ding and found that the invitation was
to a funeral. Rules for a trotting match
cannot be made to apply to competition
betwixt mich cows. The ittse
may anticipate a certain style of portrait,
to Judge which rule, may be drawn and
the actual portraits entered in the com-
petition may be of so totally a different a
kind as to render the rules useless for
judging. You never know what you are
going to see until you see it. How true
the wild, strange example of him who
&C., thought he saw n Buffalo
Upon the chimney piece.
Hc looked again, and found IL was
His Sisters Husbands Niece"
and, accordingly, it is no wonder that
,he committee is in the mental and ply
steal condition so beautifully suggested
by the same poet who sings:
"There was n Pig that sat alone
Reside a ruined Pump,
BY day and night he made his moan:
IL would have stirred IA nesrt of stone
To sec him wiring his hoofs and groan,
Because he could not jump"
Nevertheless we are sure that in a gen.
eral way oil portraits may be said TO POS
sess certain points in common and we
lave no doubt that the Art Committee
will he able to make some progress In the
cCmretition is uP. Fer our pa. We are
disposed to assist them in every way that
lies in our power. And as a matter of
fact a good many ways do lie in our