REPORT OF MR. ARCHER.
95
"Honorable Mention,” and not of "Honor.” All the world would understand 1st, 2d, 3d and 4tli prizes, and if with each prize-medal were given a certificate stating the grounds upon which it was given, there would not he much room for mistake or imposture.
It has been mentioned that the Council of General Direc- tion modified the awards of the juries after they had been given in, and had been passed by the Council of Presidents. This is a mistake which ought never to be repeated. The jurors are selected by the various nations exhibiting, and, as a rule, in all past exhibitions, the selection has been unassailable. Men have generally been chosen who were specially qualified for the task, and their decision should be final ; for if they, as experts, could not give correct awards, it is quite certain a small knot of men without any of their qualifications cannot do so. Moreover, after a large body of qualified men have given their decisions in good faith, and after lull discussion and great expenditure of labor and time, it is most disheartening to find them altered, or set aside, by another body which has asked them to act, and which itself is absolutely incompetent to give more correct opinions ; and any changes they make are sure, rightly or wrongly, to be attributed to underhand influences and intrigues.
Much has been said and written, pro and con, upon the desirability of having juries in international, or other exhibitions ; and in the London Annual International Exhibitions,
committees of selection have been substituted for them.
iiese committees act previous to the arrangement of the exhibition, and from the objects sent select those which they consider worthy to be admitted. The admission then ecomes the test of excellence, and no other prize is given |han the certificate of admission. The jury system, doubt- e f s ’ has its faults, but they are small compared with those cf this system. Whatever the juries do is open to criticism, g° l they work where all the world can go and judge also.
0 that there is every reason why they should, as they always aie > be anxious to give a just and sensible decision. In the use of the committees of selection no one knows who has cen rejected, or whether the best have been chosen. The Vll ter has worked both on juries and committees of selec-