Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1915-08-19
KANSAS PLANS
FOR FREE FAIR
Everybody and EVerybOdy's Sis
ter and Brother Invited.
SCHEME ENTIRELY ORIGINAL
Free Idea Appealed Particularly to
Kansas Temperament as 1t Would
Set the Pace For Other States and
Other Fairs-Kansas Will Blaze the
Way, Is the Enthusiastic Slogan.

Topeka, Kan.-"WelcOme to our fair!'
That is what the people of Kansas
will say to the world next September,
when the first big free fair to be held
in the United States will be opened in
the capital city Of the state.
The admission gates will be thrown
wide open and kept open for the fair
week, Sept 1917. Everybody, big, lit
tie, old and young, rich and poor, from
east and west and north and south,
will be invited in, to stay as long as
they wish, and to come and go as often
as they wish.
1t was just like Kansas to pulp
the first free fair. 1t might be said
that it was eminently proper that Kan
sas should do it, for Kansas is nothing
if not original. Recently there was
much discussion as to whether the
federal government should in some
way finance the sOuth'S cotton crop,
and it was decided it would be i'm
practical. Several years ago, when a
succession of drOughts had paralyZed
agriculture in Kansas and farmers had
no seed or money to buy it with and
thousands of them were leaving the
state, the Kansas Legislature promptly
convened and advanced 100000 to the
farmers with which to buy seed. 1t
was q new and what some would call
"paternalistc'' scheme, but it was
the thing needed, and Kansas did it.
That is her style She meets every
emergency as it comes, and neither
theories nor limitations deter her. The
people of Kansas are not fettered by an
enervating conservatism. They are pro-
gressive and Independent in thought,
and they are forward looking. They
are not bound by the past or afraid to
blaze a new trail. That's how they
came to be in Kansas. They and their
forebears were trail blazers.
So if something new comes along
and it looks good to Kansas, Kansas
is not afraid to try it, and in doing so,
if their thoughts go contrariwise to
the remainder of the country, 1T
doesn't make particle of difference to
the people Of Kansas.
Consequently when some one Sug-
gested that the Kansas State Fair as
sociation's annual exhibition be made
free fair Kansas said right away:
"Well, it's a new thing and looks good
and will give us lots of advertisement.
Let's try it,
That was the spirit that carried the
free fair in Kansas. "Its new, looks
good and will advertise u.s." The peO-
pie of Kansas like to start something
new, and they like to advertise their
state. The Shriners Of Topeka are now
out on the coast In Topeka there is
one of the best amateur bands in the
United States-Marshall' band. Some
one suggested that the Shriners take
MarShall'S band with them. 1t num-
bers forty first class musicians. To-
peka promptly raised a popular sub
scription of nearly $4,000 and sent
Marshalps band on a tour Of the Pa
cific coast to advertise the city. That
spirit pervades the whole state OF
Kansas There are $4,000 square miles
miles of Kansas patriotism.
So the free fair idea appealed pecul-
iarly to the Kansas temperament-it
would set the pace for other states
and other fairs. Kansas would blaze
the way.
The Kansas State Fair association
has been holding fair exhibitions for
thirty years. 1t is one of the Oldest In
the west. 1t is composed of Topeka
business men. Some four years ago
the fair needed a new building and
other improvements, but because OF
the droughts and crop failures the
stockholders did not feel like going
down into their pockets, so the people
of the county (Shawnee) were appeal
ed to and voted $4,000.
But unluckily two or three cOnsecu-
tive years of constant rains during fair
week followed, and financial loss re-
suited. The Fair association found it
self in bad way.
AS necessity is the mother of in
vention," the free fair plan was sug-
gested as the best way to solve the
fair problem. The county already hav-
ing a considerable investment, it was
decided to open the gates and make
the fair free, provided the people would
vote a small tax (one-fourth of a mild
with which to pay the fair premiums
1t cannot be said who originated the
free fair idea, but the first men to urge
it were T. A. Borman, former presi-
dent of the Fair association, and Mr..
Lux, the present president. Both for
several years were prominently iden-
tilted with the fair, Mr.. Borman being
at the time editor of the Kansas Farm
err, farm weekly published in Tope-
ka. He now lives in Chicago. They
decided that the free fair was desira-
! BILE not only as a matter OF eMgency,
but as a matter Of public policy. They
became firmly convinced that the prin'
ciple was right Regarding fairs as
educational institutions, they could not
see why people should have to pay to
see and learn. They placed the free
| fair on tho camo D1ano with the free