f #î ?» f rr'4t ïf 1 Kl ipsi ,*+*Vl**i&h ■HK r^cfer«^ ^ggr «F” Jf 'SS5!iîKfl^f?5^;U^i;;: i ?‘^l!3!?î*'^«l»!i!!'' , !Hîpïi(1 j [*rxxisssTsg5xTs: j4*V .«»-'«Mm.- rnr r^.v^ 1 i-u w ,\, T,7». --•f^-* ■■ (VV «*- ;r*? V^i $$£« tafc-s! c sx r . *?£ v ' r ? ■•*.AHää ▼_ i W&'r: v/ tä-c ;#Miy ■■■" iUfrï-, pr.se V- y .iS ! \H( ,>S '«-/'i, . * S* • , n lyT^ ,1“ ^■ + '' J . • * ^ r#‘'"X' >-0K v> 'y iVv- ' i" 1 “ü c.’/ * -V » 'ï+‘iZ' <■ V' <. *r.v f J Ssa « 3 v ,.,. c , Äv r - .»;■ ' * 3 **. . £V" . ■ :: ' ■» î V) REPORTS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COMMISSIONERS TO THE EXPOSITION AT VIENNA, 1 8 7 3 . WITH SPECIAL REPORTS PREPARED POR THE COMMISSION. EDITED BY 6 HAMILTON A. HILL Associate Commissioner. BOSTON: WRIGHT & POTTER, STATE PRINTERS, 79 Milk Street (corner of Federal). 1875 . WrBITirWtWI Commissioners for State of Massachusetts. Chairman: CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Jr., Esq. Associate Commissioners: Hon. H. G. KNIGHT. HAMILTON A. HILL, Esq. Secretary : Mr. FRANK D. MILLETT. Special Commissioner for Education: Mr. JOHN D. PHILBRICK. Honorary Commissioners: Col. HARRISON RITCHIE. Col. THEODORE LYMAN. HENRY P. KIDDER, Esq. H. A. HIGGINSON, Esq. S. D. WARREN, Esq. CHARLES AMORY, Esq. ADAMS AYER, Esq. EDWARD MAYNZ, Esq. AMOS G. WOOD, Esq. BAXTER D. WHITNEY, Esq. JOHN D. AVERY, Esq. Col. EDWARD T. ROWELL. Mr. AUGUST SCHLESINGER. Mr. GEORGE W. SIMMONS.- Mr. ELMER P. HOWE. Rev. PLINY WOOD. ■I* "Ifi J v in/' vtüoi^Ö «M'.iUrv äJTttäi&pitW* £a*£-»ï^£F- J :9zT.i>m*.n«tr ' s^a^i ar> sSH *n>n3WJ£fc JC2 7 *Ç -t'Ofr-A. :£ïVr ,vT m^£Jtt &*y 1+ .iTW-.H jatifeit _ _*, CONTENTS. Page General Report of Charles Francis Adams, Jr., Chief Commissioner, . 5 a a Hamilton A. Hill, Associate Commissioner, 54 ii a H. G. Knight, Associate Commissioner, 77 Special Report of Thomas C. Archer, on Organization of International Exposition Commissions and Juries, .... 86 ii u Louis J . Hinton, on Museums of Art and Industry, . 100 ii a F. D. Millett, Fine Arts of the Present Time, 157 ii a William P. Blake, Ceramic Arts, .... 216 ll a William J. Stillman, Photography, .... 355 a a Nelson L. Derby, on Building and Architecture, 366 a a John Fretwell, Jr., Hard Vulcanized Rubber, . 402 a a H. A. Hill, on Machinery, . 406 a a Elmer P. Howe, American Ideas in European Ma- chinery, .429 Robert B. Lines, Railway Telegraphs and Electric Signals, .434 Elmer P. Howe, Railway Sivitch and Signal Apparatus, 491 Francis H. Appleton, Agricultural Observations in Europe in 1873,. 501 Fred. W. Russell, The Use of Wine and Beer at Vienna, etc.. 555 ,v^. EXPOSITION AT VIENNA-1873. \T; Ak-J ,7 . iV’-. r,> . t s RESOLVES Concerning the Universal Exposition at Vienna. Resolved , That the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, is authorized to appoint a citizen of this Commonwealth and such associates as may be necessary, to visit the Universal Exposition at Vienna, to assist the contributors from this State, to examine the various industries, manufactures and economies which may be exhibited or presented, and to report thereon to the legislature of eighteen hundred and seventy-four. Resolved , That there be appropriated, to be paid out of the treasury, such a sum, not exceeding twelve thousand dollars, as the governor and council may deem necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the foregoing resolve. Resolved , That there be appropriated, to be paid out of the treasury, a sum not exceeding three thousand dollars, to be expended under the direction of the governor and council, for the purpose of aiding in the proper representation at the Exposition of our system of education, and of obtaining therefrom information for the promotion of our educational interests. , Approved March 3, 1873. LETTER OF INSTRUCTION. COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. Executive Department, Boston, April 10th, 1873. / My Dear Sir :—The duties of the representatives from this State to the Vienna Exposition are specified in the Resolve authorizing their appointment, and the' language of that Resolve is quoted in the commissions given you and your associates under the seal of the Commonwealth. The general direction of the Commission is 4 LETTER OP INSTRUCTION. entrusted to your discretion and judgment, and it is not doubted that you will find your associates ready to accord cheerful cooperation, to the end that the largest and most valuable results may be obtained. The Commission will be expected to do what it properly can to promote the interests of contributors from this State to the Exposition, and afford them such reasonable assistance as may be necessary in securing opportunity for the fair display and examination of their works. The appropriation made by the legislature will be subject to your order as the head of the Commission, and no bills for expenses incurred will be allowed except such as have your approval, the intent of the governor and council being to put the • financial management of the Commission in your hands. You are expected to settle the reasonable necessary expenses of yourself and the associate commissioners now in this country in going to and returning from Vienna by the ordinary and most feasible route, as well as those of the associates now in Europe in travelling from points not further distant from Vienna than Paris or Antwerp. You are also expected to settle the reasonable necessary expenses of yourself and associates while in Vienna, for such a period of time as you may judge it advisable to remain there, keeping in mind that the object of the State in authorizing the Commission is specifically to secure practical information at the Exposition for the benefit of our people. Authority is given you to employ such assistance in Vienna as you may deem it advisable to procure in canying out this object, and for that assistance you will make payment at a fair rate of compensation, taking receipts that may be filed with your accounts as vouchers. And of all matters involving the expenditure of money, you will be expected to render an account as soon as possible after your return. Very truly yours, W. B. WASHBURN, Governor of the Commonwealth. Hon. Chas. Francis Adams, Jr., Boston, Mass. REPOET OF COMMISSIONER ADAMS. As Commissioner of the State of Massachusetts, appointed under chapter 6 of the Resolves of 1873, to visit the Universal Exposition at Vienna, I have the honor to submit the following Report :— Under the first section of the Resolve referred to, the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, was authorized to appoint a citizen of the Commonwealth, and such associates as might be necessary, to visit the Universal Exposition at Vienna, to assist the contributors from the State, to examine the various industries, manufactures and economies which might be exhibited or presented, and to report thereon to the legislature of 1874. A sum not exceeding $12,000 was appropriated to carry into effect the provisions of the Resolve ; which was passed and received the executive approval on the 3d of March, just fifty-eight days before the time fixed for the opening of the Exposition. Upon the 19th of the same month the nomination of the commissioner was made and approved by the council, and eight days later Gen. John C. Palfrey, of Lowell, Hon. H. G. Knight, of Easthampton, and H. A. Hill, Esq., of Worcester, were appointed associate commissioners, with Mr. Frank t>. Millett as secretary. A number of other gentlemen were at the same time joined to the Commission in a purely complimentary capacity. Of the gentlemen designated as associate commissioners, Messrs. Knight and Hill accepted their appointments, but that of Gen. Palfrey was declined on account of conflicting business relations. In the original organization of the Com- 6 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. mission it had been supposed that Gen. Palfrey would represent the largest and most important material interest of the Commonwealth, that of textile fabrics. His intimate acquaintance with these, and with the machinery used in their production, qualified him in an eminent degree to render service of real value. For this and other reasons his inability to accept the appointment proved in the event a thing deeply to be regretted. Of the other gentlemen appointed, Mr. Hill only was at the time in America. Mr. Knight was travelling in Italy and Mr. Millett was just completing his studies at the School of Art at Antwerp. As the commissions of the several appointees did not issue until the 20th of March, and the letter of instructions drawn up for the guidance of the commissioner was dated subsequently to that time, it naturally followed, as the Exposition was opened upon the day (May 1) which had been designated, that before arriving on the ground the commissioners had no opportunity to confer with each other. They could not, therefore, decide upon any line of conduct, nor in any way organize in advance, either to aid the Massachusetts expositors or to agree upon a division of their work. In point of fact, they first met at Vienna several weeks after the Exposition was open to the public, and about the time that the* American department began to assume an appearance of order. It hardly needs to be said that this was a most unfortunate' circumstance, both for the commission itself and for the expositors from Massachusetts ; but under the circumstances it could not be avoided. Where men who are to act together in the performance of somewhat difficult duties in a foreign country are at the time of their appointment, immediately before those duties are to commence, both personally unknown to each other and scattered over two continents, it is not easy to concentrate them for action. Everything was, in this case, done which could be done. Mr. Millett was communicated with and went immediately.to Vienna, under instructions to effect such preliminary arrangements as might be practicable. He arrived there during the latter part of April, but was obliged*to return to Antwerp before the 1st of May, necessarily having accomplished little, if anything. He was unable to get REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 7 back to Vienna until the 7th of May. Mr. Hill and myself sailed from America on the 13th of April. Shortly after landing in Europe, I heard in Paris of the unfortunate difficulties which had arisen in the American department of the Exposition, and of the suspension of the United States commissioners by the authorities at Washington. Thereupon I at once went to Vienna, where I arrived on the evening of the 1st of May, the day upon which the formal inaugurating ceremonies had taken place. I immediately put my own services, and those of the other gentlemen composing the state commission, at the disposal of the American Minister and of those temporarily in charge of the American department, and, the occasion seeming to be one of a somewhat pressing nature, applied myself to the work of obtaining information as to the whereabouts of my colleagues. Certainly no circumstances could well have arisen in which a well organized and self-possessed state commission might have proved of greater service, or have more fully justified its formation, than were then presented. The condition of affairs in the American department was disgraceful, ludicrous and mortifying. The confusion was apparently complete. The work to be done was neither large nor difficult,—hardly equalling, indeed, the arrangements in this country of any ordinary Institute display or considerable County fair. Had any state commission been upon the spot, organized in advance, understanding itself and knowing both what ought to be done and how to do it, the conduct of the matter must inevitably and naturally have fallen into its hands. The difficulty would then at once have disappeared. Unfortunately, so far as the bringing about results was concerned, the Massachusetts commission was in a less effective state, if such a thing were possible, even than that of the United States. Just appointed and wholly unorganized, its members scattered over Europe and in no communication with each other, it illustrated with singular happiness the ordinary result of tardy public action. When, therefore, Mr. Jay and the gentlemen temporarily in charge expressed the utmost gratification at the prospect of having some organized body to relieve them from the embarrassing position in which they found themselves, it at once became evident that the Massachusetts commission was in no condi- 8 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. tion to perform that service. Before it could be made so, even through the most energetic telegraphing and correspondence, the occasion, fortunately for it, had passed away. While I was anxiously looking for the arrival of my several associates, the appointment of Mr. Jackson S. Schultz as United States commissioner, in "place of Gen. Yan Buren, was announced, and at once solved the difficulty. In regard to the scandals and difficulties which gave such an unenviable notoriety to the American department during this period of the Exposition, neither my associates nor myself at the time or since have found it necessary to express, or indeed to form, any opinion. It was painfully evident that the mismanagement had been complete from the beginning forward. It required no investigation to make that fact patent to any one. As to who was responsible for this result, or the motives which actuated them, these were subjects which it was wholly unnecessary for us to pass upon. After the arrival of Mr. Schultz, therefore, it only remained for us to consider maturely why we had been sent to Vienna, and, having arrived at some definite conclusions upon that subject, to devote ourselves to the work before us. Mr. Millett returned from Antwerp, and reported himself as ready to assume his duties as secretary on the 7th of May. Mr. Hill arrived upon the 11th of the same month. It was not until the 24th of May that Mr. Knight found himself able to reach Vienna, and his engagements in America were such that he was unable to remain Jhere after the 26th of June. Consequently the commission was deprived after that time of his assistance, and was practically reduced to Mr. Hill, Mr. Millett and myself. An office was secured and opened on the 16th of May; from which time until the 8th of October one or more of the commissioners was in constant attendance at it. It was then finally closed by Mr. Millett, and all its documents and records forwarded to America. I had previously left Vienna on the 10th of August, and Mr. Hill had followed on the 1st of September. Altogether the office was open and the commissioners were in Vienna during five months of the Exposition, which lasted in all but six months. I do not propose to enter into any general, historical, descriptive or statistical report of the Vienna Exposition. Upon REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 9 all these matters the country has been kept so very fully informed by the writers for the public press, that any further details as regards them in my power to supply would seem to be quite superfluous. As, however, preparations are now making for the American Centennial of 1876, in which Massachusetts as a state will not improbably feel obliged to take a prominent part, I shall briefly refer to a few points, a due consideration of which, as it seems to me, may save us from grave mistakes. It is true that Massachusetts is not directly responsible for this undertaking, and can exercise but a very limited influence in its direction. But if, as is proposed, it is to be a national affair,—and as such it will necessarily be regarded in all foreign countries,—the practical questions connected with it become matters of moment to each of the several states. As a universal exposition, that of Vienna was undoubtedly the largest and most ambitious attempt of the kind which has yet been made. In some respects it was a most brilliant and gratifying success ; in others it cannot but be considered as a very lamentable failure. From the careful study of it in each aspect, many useful lessons touching the coming Centennial might be drawn. Among the features of success were the structures and the surrounding grounds, which were all upon a scale of unprecedented magnitude. Yet magnificent and imposing as respects constructive skill and the space covered by them as these unquestionably were, the buildings can hardly be considered as having been well adapted to the purposes for which they were designed. They w T ere laid out for their proposed occupants on the geographical plan: that is, taking them in order, the visitor passed through the whole range of countries as they occupy the surface of the earth; the American department being at one extremity and that of Eastern Asia at the other. This is an admirable arrangement for a bazaar, in which the largest possible sales by expositors is the single end in view ; and it so proved in this case. If, however, an exposition building is designed, not as a general sales-room of the world, but as a competitive field of excellence, a worse arrangement than that described could scarcely be devised. At Vienna, productions of the same nature from different countries were not only not brought into contrast and com- 2 10 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. parison, as at the last Paris Exposition, but they seemed to be so placed that both comparison and contrast were impossible. Not only a guide, but a very experienced and competent guide,—one who had made a special study of a class of objects,—was an absolute necessity to any one who sought to examine all that the Exposition contained of objects of that class. Both morally and physically, the search was made as wearisome and exhausting as was possible. The investigator was equally oppressed with the number and variety of the exhibits discovered, and by the distance traversed in the journey of discovery. The method of arrangement thus became a practical matter, detracting most seriously from the general popularity of the enterprise; for the great mass of those, the presence of whom decides the success or failure of such undertakings,—the travellers and the buyers,—are brought together from motives of curiosity or in search of amusement. One principal object always, therefore, to be kept in view should be to render the work of examination as little fatiguing as possible. At Vienna it was a severe and unattractive labor. The Exposition, therefore, speedily became unpopular with the general public, and very few, who were not compelled to, paid it either long or frequent visits. This deficiency as regards detail was in fact the point of weakness throughout the undertaking. The conception was very large and fine, perhaps too much so, but it was not sustained by any corresponding faculty for organization. A few men, indeed it might practically be said that one man, attempted to supervise everything and to do everything. Subordinates were mere ciphers. But to secure the success of an enterprise of this description, a good organizing and executive mind is even more indispensable than a large conceiving mind. Indeed, it is not difficult to imagine, or to procure designs for the largest buildings or the most perfect collection of industrial products which the world has yet seen, and by a sufficiently lavish expenditure of money these conceptions may be more or less fully realized. The difficulty is in producing, with.the least degree of friction and at the smallest cost, practical and harmonious results. In neither of these respects could the Vienna Exposition be regarded as a success. Indeed, few more perilous industrial undertakings could be REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 11 devised for any community than the embarking in a world’s fair, without first knowing exactly where to find that one man who both has a perfectly definite conception of what it is proposed to do and an equally definite conception of how it is to be done. An exposition cannot be made, through repeated failure, to result in ultimate success. Its fate depends wholly upon the concentration of its management and the executive capacity of its manager. At Vienna, while the concentration was perfect, the executive capacity was deficient. The danger for Philadelphia will probably be found in the attempt to evolve a management out of a caucus, which cannot but result in the absence of every accessory to an assured success. Another point in its history having a decided significance for the Centennial, was the failure of the Vienna Exposition in respect to the number of visitors who* attended it. It is true that this deficiency was partly due to special causes. A wide-spread apprehension of the cholera prevailed throughout Europe during almost the whole summer, and most exaggerated reports of its ravages at Vienna were everywhere current. This, however, was but one of the minor causes which deterred people from going there; it was not, indeed, even so influential as the systematic and outrageous extortions practised by the Viennese upon their visitors. During the later months of the Exposition these were not, perhaps, greater than might have been expected in any city under similar circumstances. A lasting reputation had, however, been achieved during the earlier weeks. The Viennese then showed the full spirit which ordinarily takes possession of the inhabitants of a provincial city which thinks it has for a time secured to itself the first-class attraction of a metropolis. It was thought that the whole world must come to the Exposition,—that it could uot stay away; and the natives prepared to take full advantage of the necessity. During the few days of assured confidence in the unparalleled success of their great show, the extortions practised upon strangers were so unblushing, so impudent, so aggravating, as to produce a lasting impression throughout Europe. This was especially the case with the English and the Americans,—the two people most lavish in their expenditure of money,—among whom a bitter prejudice was created which was not subsequently effaced. 12 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. But apart from these two minor considerations, which unquestionably had a considerable effect in diminishing the number of visitors after the month of May, there was another and far more fundamental fact which the Austrian authorities lost sight of in planning their enterprise, and which their experience should warn us not to disregard. There is excellent reason to believe that their experiment was upon a scale altogether too large for its base and surroundings. In other words, it is very questionable whether an exposition of the superlative grandeur of that of Vienna can ever be successfully undertaken in any city of the second class. There are two cities,—London and Paris,—sufficiently large and sufficiently central to sustain a world’s fair on the largest scale;—it is very doubtful if there are more than two. At least one-half probably of those who enter the doors of an international exposition belong to the population of the city in which it is held. That population must always constitute the great basis of attendance. In this respect no other cities at all approach London or Paris, and through them also passes the whole world which travels, whether for business or pleasure. It is not so with Vienna, and it is less so yet with Philadelphia. With neither of these cities are strangers familiar. They will, indeed, go to them if drawn there by sufficient attraction, but they cannot be induced to remain in them. This fact was singularly illustrated during the Exposition. The capital of the Austrian Empire certainly has the reputation of being a gay, a brilliant, an interesting and not a peculiarly severe or virtuous city. Nevertheless, even during the last summer, it was found impossible to keep the throng of travellers there for any length of time. It was most noticeable that numbers continually arrived with the expressed intention of passing weeks in the study of the Exposition, as had been so much the practice among strangers, both in London in 1862 and at Paris in 1867. Almost invariably, however, the stay of such persons was limited to two or perhaps three days. They seemed to weary of the place, and of the Exposition even more than of the place. The latter oppressed them, and Vienna failed to attract them;—they were neither amused nor instructed nor comfortable. They soon realized that they were getting very little enjoyment in return for a very heavy expenditure, 53BSB REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 13 and, accordingly, they went elsewhere. Day by day after the Exposition was opened, it thus became more and more apparent that it was a world’s fair held at a point which was not a world’s centre. On the contrary, the world had to go out of its way to get to it. Something more attractive than a universal exposition, no matter how wonderful, was required to keep people away from their familiar haunts. Notwithstanding every conceivable effort to afford amusement in large things and in small,—from endless concerts and beer-gardens to the regularly arranged arrival and departure of every considerable sovereign or eminent public character in Europe,—there were, during the very months that the Exposition lasted, more travellers and strangers in either London or Paris than in Vienna, and they also remained in those cities for a longer time. The whole undertaking had, however, been planned upon the assumption that all previous efforts in the same line were to be wholly eclipsed. As respects magnitude of apparatus they were eclipsed, and the financial failure was in perfect correspondence. The necessary preparation to outdo everything which had gone before was made. Unfortunately, those for whose benefit it was made failed to respond. The consequent financial experience was very suggestive. The appropriation originally made by the government on account of the Exposition was $3,000,000, which it was further provided was in no case to be exceeded. The total cost will probably be found to amount to over $12,000,000, as the receipts from visitors were scarcely sufficient to meet the current expenses ; leaving a deficit of some $9,000,000 to be met by the Austrian government. And yet, even from this lamentable showing, it would not be safe to draw any inferences in disparagement of the Vienna Exposition as affecting the people of Austria, or of the Centennial as affecting the people of this country. The influence of such an experience cannet easily be measured in dollars and cents. On the contrary, there can scarcely remain a doubt in the mind of any careful observer, at all familiar with the progress of recent Austrian development, that the Exposition, even had it resulted in a deficit twice as large as that stated, would have been worth far more than it cost. Its educational effects can 14 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. hardly fail to be incalculable. The people of Austria intellectually, politically and industrially are in a state of active transition. The disastrous results of the campaign of 1866 drove the Empire into a course of decided political and educational reform. The absolute necessity of a reorganization was made apparent even to those most wedded to the old ways, and from the battle of Sadowa may be dated a new era in Austrian history. Seven years of education had made their influence perceptibly felt in every department of national life, and not least in its industries. There was a general awakening. Upon a people in this receptive condition the effect of a universal exposition like that of the last summer cannot easily be overestimated. It is probably not too much to say that for the next score of years everything inventive or industrial in Austria will date a new impetus from it, as everything educational and political already dates from Sadowa. Nor will the experience of Austria, if this expectation should be realized, be peculiar to herself. A remarkable illustration of a similar impetus given to English industries by the previous expositions at London was observable at Vienna. It was there generally conceded that the most brilliant success won was in the department of the ceramic arts, and in this the palm was generally conceded to the English exhibitors. The progress made by them, and the absolute excellence they had attained, were most noteworthy. This was attributed to the improved education and increased artistic taste of the country, largely due to the influence of the South Kensington Museum and the system of art schools of which that museum is the great centre. These again originated out of the first London Exposition of 1851, and remain as a lasting monument to its success and utility. A more correct appreciation of circumstances and a more perfect organization of details, would obviate in a very great degree as respects the Centennial the danger of any such disastrous financial results as those experienced at Vienna. That which may be possible in London or Paris may be impracticable at Philadelphia. If, however, this appreciation of circumstances and regard to details could but be secured, it may well be questioned whether any civilized people is in a condition to derive more immediate or more im- REPOET OF MR. ADAMS. 15 portant results from a successful world’s fair, than are now the people of this country. They are in no respect in the condition of the people of Austria; but it was impossible to examine the rare display at Vienna, without being deeply impressed with a sense of the educational results to be derived by America from a similar experience. As respects taste and artistic development,—in all the results of a higher and more thorough education,—our people are as yet sadly deficient; they need an impetus. No one could walk through the Exposition at Vienna and not experience a realizing sense of the fact., Should the Philadelphia Centennial lead to such results with us as the Exposition of 1851 did with the people of England,—should it leave behind it with us, as that did with them, a keener appreciation both of our national shortcomings and our possibilities,—it will not be otherwise than a brilliant success, even if it bequeaths us also a deficit as large as that which the Austrian authorities are now contemplating with disappointment and dismay. These are not, however, matters which my colleagues or myself were especially directed to investigate. The objects for which a state commission had been sent to Vienna, and which we were necessarily to keep in view, were more particularly expressed in the language of the Resolve authorizing our appointment, which has already been quoted, and in the letter of instructions of April 10th, addressed to me by the governor, a copy of which is prefixed to this report. Recurring to these, it will be observed that the duty of aiding the Massachusetts contributors was especially imposed upon us. In this respect we found the field of our usefulness extremely limited. Had the commission been authorized and appointed a year earlier, the case might have been very different. The commissioners then would have organized the Massachusetts exposition, rvould have been familiar with the conditions under which the contributions were to be forwarded and displayed, and would have been somewhat advised both as to what was expected of them and what it would be in their power to accomplish. As it was, all that was done in the way of organization at all, had been done by the commissioners of the United States before our appointment was even contemplated. It was entirely out of the question, therefore, 16 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. for us to be of any service in the work of preparation, or to assist contributors in forwarding their goods. It only remained to hurry to Vienna, without the possibility of arriving there before every article should have been in its place. When we did arrive there, we found, it is true, nothing in place, and the Massachusetts expositors, in common with all of those from America, utterly paralyzed by the troubles in the United States commission. I have already sufficiently referred to these, and to the extreme care with which my colleagues and myself abstained from all participation in them. Meanwhile, even had our commission then been in a thoroughly effective condition, it would have been wholly out of the question for it to separate the Massachusetts from the other expositors. A state commission had, of course, no recognized position with the Austrian authorities, and could communicate with them only through the representative of the United States. There can hardly be said to have been any such representative until after the arrival of Mr. Schultz, when everything that could be done for the expositors of any state was done for all. Circumstances would afterwards occasionally arise to induce some Massachusetts exhibitor to apply to us for advice or assistance ; such occurrences were, however, rare, and the matters presented trivial. In fact, judging by my own experience at Vienna, I should say that in this respect any state commission was wholly superfluous ; no field of usefulness is open to it. It can, if properly organized, do a great deal of work of the utmost value in the earlier stages of preparation,—while the display of goods is being gotten together and forwarded,—but after the expositor is on the ground, he must necessarily look to the national representatives, and those of a state are, so far as he is concerned, of about as much value as would be those of his county or town. The most they can do is to be at hand in case they are wanted to supply a vacancy, such as arose in Vienna, among those really in charge. They then, however, cease to be state and become national commissioners. As it was practically out of their power to render any material aid to the Massachusetts contributors, it only remained for the commissioners to give their undivided attention to the work of investigation imposed upon them ; to REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 17 examine the industries, manufactures and economies presented with a vi&w to bringing back in a body of reports the largest amount possible of information likely to prove useful to the people of the State. I have no intention of attempting any elaborate report myself, either upon the exhibition as a whole or the American department in it, or upon the Massachusetts representation in that department. I do not either feel myself competent to undertake such a task, nor was I appointed with the expectation that I should do so. Speaking generally, however, and taking into account the civilization, the wealth, the standing and above all the pride of the country which contributed it, the American department was the least creditable part of the Exposition. The exhibit of machinery saved it from being wholly discreditable, and the educational department excited some general interest. Including these redeeming features, however, the whole result would have reflected no credit whatever on a Worcester County fair. The official classification divided the articles in the whole Exposition into twenty-six groups. In twenty-three of these America was more or less represented, though in all but one the representation was in no way calculated to give a correct impression of our progress or condition as a people. The difficulty had evidently lain in the work of preliminary organization. It was quite apparent from the most superficial examination that such articles as were there had been in greatest part gotten together at hap-hazard; and that, while few things had been judiciously selected, absolutely nothing had been rejected. It would have been far better, so far as the general impression created was concerned, if all else had been refused and our contributions had been wholly confined to the hall of machinery. A walk through the American department left on the mind an unpleasant impression of meagreness in production, absence of taste and poverty of imagination, which was even painful if the visitor happened to approach it through the superb English and French displays next to it in order of arrangement. Appended to this Report tables are submitted showing,— First. The entire number of American exhibits, with the groups to which they severally belonged, and the medals or diplomas of each description awarded to them. 3 i^maasmamsssmam H T 18 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. Second. A similar table relating solely to the Massachusetts exhibits. Third. A table showing the contributions of the several states of the Union to each of the groups. Fourth. The diplomas or medals awarded in each of the groups to the exhibits of the several states ; and Fifth. A table of thirty-two of the leading industries of Massachusetts reported in the last United States census, showing the number of establishments engaged in each and the total value of their annual production, with the number of exhibits contributed by them to the Exposition. The last table reveals with sufficient distinctness the utterly imperfect character of the Massachusetts contributions, if they were intended in any way to reflect the industrial development of the State. Of the 3,926 establishments reported to the census as engaged in these thirty-two forms of production, but thirty-seven were represented. Seventeen of these thirty-seven contributions were in the single group of machinery. Twenty of the thirty-seven industries enumerated were wholly unrepresented. Among those thus conspicuous for their absence were the manufactures of cars, of agricultural implements, of cutlery, of drugs and chemicals, of paper, of glass, of clothing, of prints, of plated ware, of straw work, of watches, of wire and worsted goods. Of the 1,123 establishments engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes, three contributed. One solitary contributor only, represented our annual production of $45,000,000 of cotton goods. Our famous edge-tools, our India-rubber goods, our musical instruments and our woodenware numbered also one contributor each. Our woollen goods had two. Turning to the several groups, and excluding the educational department, in regard to which a special report will be made by Mr. Philbrick, the commissioner in charge, it will be seen that in eleven out of the twenty-five the State was wholly unrepresented. In this number wqye included all the departments of art, metallurgy, agriculture and horticulture ; stone, earthenware and glass ; all small wares and fancy goods ; paper and stationery ; civil engineering and architecture ; and interior household decoration and arrangement. In four of the fourteen groups in which it was represented at all, it had REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 19 single contributions. In five it had two ; in one it had three ; in one it had four ; in one, that of textile fabrics, it had seven ; in one other, that of machinery, it had seventeen. Our manufacturers of condensed food and preserved fruit and vegetables (Group IV.) exhibited two excellent examples, the one of canned articles, the other of cocoa and chocolate. Our engravers, book-printers, lithographers, photographers and decorators (Group XII.) were represented by Prang’s chromo-lithographs, which, with a solitary landscape-painting by Mr. C. Granville Way, of Boston, were the sole indications of progress in our artistic development. Our philosophical and surgical instruments (Group XIV.) were two models, the one of an " Hyperbolical Paraboloid,” the other of an "Hyperboloid” and a "Hygrodiek.” In the great field of chemical industries (Group III.), we were represented by some lubricating oil, some leather-dressing, and by the " Rising Sun Stove Polish.” It does not, of course, need to be said that no discrimination whatever had been exercised as regards a selection of exhibits in the case of the State, any more than in that of the nation, and in six only of the fourteen groups in which she was represented, were the contributions such as to call for special commendation. Among the textiles (Group V.) were specimens ot cassimeres, and of carpets of excellent quality produced in Massachusetts by Blackinton & Sons, of North Adams, and by the Bigelow Carpet Co., of Clinton, though forwarded by New York selling agents. Gardner Brewer & Co. also exhibited some superior shirtings, though these again were manufactured in New Hampshire. In Group VII., the contribution of the Douglas Axe Co. was highly creditable. In Group VIII., A. S. Parks, of Winchendon, exhibited water-pails, manufactured on the spot, and B. F. Sturtevant, of Boston, some specimens of prepared wood for shoe-pegs, both of which exhibits received and deserved high commend- ation. In Group XV., our single contribution of musical instruments—for our great piano manufacturers were not represented—were some highly creditable organs, from the Mason & Hamlin Organ Co., of Boston ; and in Group XVI. the Smith & Wesson revolvers fairly represented our progress 20 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. in fire-arms. In Machinery only, however, was the Massachusetts contribution otherwise than a ludicrous failure. In this Group (XIII.) the American exhibits generally attracted attention, on account of their merit and novelty, and, though by no means the best specimens of our mechanical engineering, did not reflect discredit. An examination of the list of awards will show, that in proportion to its exhibitors, the United States received a larger number of high prizes than any other country. The reason for this is not that the jury were lax or partial in their decisions, but that nearly every one of our machines, when compared with those of foreign make, had some points of superiority. Massachusetts was not wanting in contributing to this result. The wood-working machinery, the boot and shoe machinery and the wool-spinner were among the chief attractions of the Exposition, not only for the gazing crowd, but for experts ; and for this reason, in an official report, the exhibits from the State in this department should receive more than a merely passing notice. • The collection of wood-working tools exhibited by Mr. B. D. Whitney, of Winchendon, without considering the novelties in design, were most creditable in poirit of construction, since they showed careful calculation and accurate workmanship, for lack of which American tools have been too often exposed to criticism. Mr. Whitney’s pail-machinery was sent only to interest visitors, and not as a new invention. His saw- bench and short planer, which were at the Paris Exposition in 1867, were unsurpassed by any similar tools on exhibition. The scraping-machine, designed to smooth the surface of small pieces of hardwood, such as are used in cabinetmaking, was an entirely original invention. It performs its work quicker and far better than is possible by hand-labor. In order to secure the peculiar edge required on the scraping- knife, a special grinding-machine was provided, without which the utility of the scraper would be much lessened. There was also a jig-saw, balanced in a novel way, so that it could be run at a high speed without producing the trembling which usually attends the action of such machines. The most prominent of his exhibits, and the one which was brought into competition with those of nearly every manufacturer at the REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 21 Exposition, was the improved band-saw, in which he has accomplished two things, which are essential to its perfect working; viz., a suitable surface for the back of the saw to rub against, and an automatic device to keep the tension of the saw-blade uniform. The firm of Witherby, Rugg & Richardson, of Worcester, had a planing-machine for general work which possessed several advantages. In some way it was unfortunately injured in transit, so that its operation was rather imperfect. The Knapp dovetailing machine, from Northampton, was in constant operation. It makes a form of dovetail which can be used whenever machine-dovetailing is admissible. For rapidity and accuracy of work it can hardly be excelled. The continuous wool-spinner exhibited by Mr. J. G. Avery, of Spencer, was one of the most interesting exhibits in the hall. By a simple and ingenious device, a motion is attained in drawing out the roving and reducing it to yarn, which imitates that of the arm of a hand workman. As the material is drawn constantly from the spool, and continuously wound upon the bobbin, the capacity of the machine is at least double that of those now in use. There are in addition several small contrivances which greatly increase its efficiency. The set of shoe-machinery was most complete of its kind, and the only one worthy of mention in the Exposition. During several hours in the day, workmen were engaged in making shoes, or in showing the operation of special machines. The pegging-machines, roller, sewing-machines and burnisher, from the Shoe Machinery Manufacturing Co. of Boston, were comparatively new. The " wire-nailer ” was the more interesting, because the French showed a far inferior machine for the same work. The machines for making and attaching heels, sent by the Bigelow Heeling Machine Association, of Worcester, were exhibited for the first time. These machines make it possible to manufacture cheap heels from good or refuse stock, so that they will be as durable as when made in the ordinary way. There w r ere also special devices for attach- mg and finishing heels. The attention paid to labor-saving contrivances and to strength in construction was noticeable. The enterprise of the representatives of this firm in persever- mg in the manufacture of shoes, although they were not 22 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. allowed to sell them, deserves commendation. A few shoe- machines, from T. A. Dodge, Cambridge—prominent among which was the well-known McKay sewing-machine—were brought in after the jury had finished its work, and therefore received no award. There were no large iron-working tools from Massachusetts, a fact which is the more astonishing when the reputation of our manufacturers is considered. Among the shop- fittings were a parallel-jawed vise by Mr. Thomas Hall, of Northampton; one of a style peculiarly American, so contrived that the jaws can be rapidly pulled backward and forward, and almost instantly fastened on any interposed object. The Morse Twist Drill Co. showed a case of their increase- twist drills and fluted reamers. The hand-knitting machine, from the Lamb Knitting Machine Co., at Chicopee Falls, and the Excelsior Gas Machine from Warren, sustained their reputation as standard machines. From this brief survey of the important Massachusetts mechanical exhibits, it will be seen that even in those departments which were best represented, we had but two or three exhibitors, and the majority of kinds were nearly or wholly unrepresented. The only mitigating consideration is, that what we did have was uniformly good, and carried away the highest honors. In comparison with the other states of America, Massachusetts stood fourth in respect to the number of her contributions to the Exposition as a whole, being exceeded by New York, Ohio and Louisiana. Judged by the test of prizes awarded, the state stood second with Ohio in respect to their quality, being exceeded only by New York. A detailed list, both of the exhibitors from Massachusetts and of the prizes awarded them, will be found appended to this Report. Of the fifty-five contributors from the State in fourteen groups, thirty- three received either prizes or honorable mention. Of these, however, the medals for progress and merit—the two highest awards, after the grand diplomas of honor—alone deserve any great degree of consideration, the others having been so widely distributed as to lose their significance. Of the sixty-four medals of progress awarded to Americans, Massachusetts received thirteen ;» and of the hundred and fifty-six medals of REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 23 merit, she received fifteen; being in all twenty-eight medals, as compared with seventy-eight received by the New York exhibitors, twenty-eight by those from Ohio, and seventeen by those from Pennsylvania. Four diplomas of honor were, however, awarded to individual American expositors, two of whom were from Pennsylvania, and one each from Rhode Island and from New York. The four individuals thus distinguished were, Messrs. Sellers, for machine tools, Corliss, for his steam-engine, White for dentistry, and Wood for the invention of the mowing-machine. It will be noticed that every state in the Union was represented by expositors, though no less than thirteen states numbered three or less. America was not, however, represented in all the groups. Nothing was contributed to Group XIX., which related to the arrangement and interior decoration of the private dwelling-house; or to Group XXII., which was devoted to showing the influence of museums of fine arts on industry ; or to Group XXIV., which was made up of objects of fine arts of the past, exhibited by their owners. In Group XXV., in which were included the fine arts of the present time, produced since 1862, the American exposition was wretchedly and disgracefully inadequate. In Group XX., being the farm-house, its arrangements, furniture and utensils, Mr. F. H. Appleton, of West Peabody, furnished the solitary contribution, a modest plan of the farm owned and cultivated by him. In Group XXI., of national domestic industry, which included the superb potteries, porcelains, tapestries, laces, metal articles and carved work, which were the brilliant feature of the Exposition, the only American contributors were two young ladies, respectively from New York and Michigan, who sent, the one an "Embroidered Picture,” and the other a "Phantom Bouquet.” In Group XXIII., relating to art applied to religion, and which included the entire ornamentation of all sacred edifices, the American contributions were two in number, and both from New York, the one being a " Bronze Lectern,” and the other a n improved "Burial Casket.” Turning from the American department to the Exposition as a whole, the general field was as rich in material for special reports of value as the particular field was barren. A very cursory examination, however, of most of the col- 24 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. lections of public reports which have been made on previous Expositions supplied the means of forming a clear idea, both of the nature and value of these productions. As a rule they have added simply a heavy printing bill to the other expenses of representation. This experience the Massachusetts commissioners felt no ambition to repeat. A general report of our own could easily have been compiled, which would have included, in a compendious form, much that has already appeared in the columns of the press. A large body of perfunctory reports of a similar character could also have been procured from others at a moderate cost. Neither of these methods of completing our work commended itself to our judgment. Very serious difficulties, however, presented themselves in the way of any systematic plan of reports calculated to be of real value. Two plans on which they might be prepared suggested themselves. The first looked to a comparison of results presented in the Vienna Exposition with those observed in the expositions of London or of Paris. Such a comparison, properly instituted and developed by competent hands, should reveal more or less accurately the departments in which industry or art had made advances, or had retrograded, between the expositions. Had it been within our power to carry out this scheme of reports, the result could not but have been most instructive, as showing the hidden influences which had been and now were in operation in different countries. The conception was, however, too general, and presupposed a command of means and of agents altogether beyond the reach of a state commission. The other plan was calculated to be of more immediate interest to Massachusetts. A very brief study of the Exposition sufficed to show, that, so far as America was concerned, the articles contributed to it were divided by a broad line of demarcation into two classes. In one class were included the articles of practical utility, including especially all labor-saving appliances; in the other were those results of human skill, the production of which was due to a more educated hand or to a more developed artistic taste ; which showed a finer touch or a more thorough technical training. As regards the first class of exhibits, revealing a ready resource and a great, though somewhat coarse, practical ingenuity, America, even REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 25 at Vienna, showed a sufficient degree of strength, and certainly seemed to call for no reports from public agents. It would indeed be little less than a display of folly for a body of state officials, with, at best very general information, to undertake to instruct in the details of their business men managing interests, the annual product of which amounts to tens of millions of dollars. It is not to government reports that these men go for information. There was little probability that we could discover much that has escaped their search, even if they were not themselves on the ground in person, or by their representatives. It is not so, however, as regards the exhibits of the second class. No richer field of instruction for Massachusetts industry could have been desired than was presented at Vienna in the display of articles, the excellence of which lay in the nice skill or educated taste or thorough training of those who produced them. America was here immeasurably behind all leadiug competitors. After full consideration, therefore, it was determined to devote especial attention to securing detailed reports bearing upon the exhibits belonging to this class, and to confine the reports relating to machinery and labor-saving inventions within very general limits. A comprehensive schedule was accordingly prepared, and it remained only to secure the services of the specialists competent to develop its several parts. But here again was encountered the great obstacle of an imperfect organization. Our scheme included some thirty papers on various subjects, a special prominence being given to the exhibits in Group XXII., described in the official catalogue as that part of the exhibition showing the organization and influence of museums of fine art as applied to industry,—to which group, it will be remembered, not a single contribution was made by America. We further desired to procure more or less thorough and authoritative information on the recent developments in the production of pottery, porcelain and the ceramic arts generally,—in which this Exposition was wonderfully rich,—on gold and silver w ares ; embroideries and fine textile fabrics ; on paintings, bronzes, statuary and engravings ; on glass and on manufactures of ivory, of paper and of leather. A body of reports, some twenty in number, was promised us, all of which, we 4 26 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. believe, would have proved of value, and many of which have already been completed, and are now in our hands ready for publication. As a whole, however, the design could not be carried out. The cause of our failure to do all that we hoped to do in this respect, I shall hereafter refer to more fully. At present it is sufficient to say that we had relied upon finding at Vienna, upon the juries, in the national commission, or among the Americans drawn thither by the Exposition, many who were interested in specialties, and from whom suggestions and even reports might be procured. A few such there were, and to them we owe those portions of the general plan of our reports which we succeeded in procuring. ’ The result, however, constitutes at best but a series of fragments. As a rule, the material we had to work with was of the most discouraging description, from which no results worthy of preservation could be expected. Even where men of character and knowledge were found, in the great majority of cases they were either so disgusted with the disrepute into which America and Americans had fallen, that they refused to assume any labor in connection with the Exposition, or they remained at Vienna merely long enough to get an idea of what the Exposition contained, and then dismissed the whole subject as rapidly as possible from their minds. Two examples will illustrate the disappointments the commissioners had to encounter in this respect. The production of paper and glass is among the most promising industries of Massachusetts, and admits of great development. In both, the Vienna Exposition was peculiarly rich; and to the manufactured results of both artistic taste and technical skill have of late years contributed a greatly increased value. In spite of the most careful inquiry, however, we were unable to discover any one possessing a knowledge of the growth or present condition of these industries in Massachusetts, who would undertake to furnish a paper upon them. A formal and superficial report could of course have been procured with little trouble and at small expense. It was not, however, deemed advisable in securing the requisite quantity of reports to evince a too complete disregard of their quality. Under these circumstances, long before the labors of the commission were brought to a close, the fact of a practical REPOET OF MR. ADAMS. 27 failure in our mission had become very evident to me. The failure was due to either of two causes—to the defective organization of the commission at home, or to the absence of the material necessary for it to work with at Vienna. The commission had not been selected with a view to its being complete in itself, and it failed to secure outside of itself the assistance necessary to carry out any broad plan of general review. Whatever the cause, however, and whether personally responsible for it or not, I early concluded that there was but one course to be pursued. The fact of failure must be met squarely, and in this way only could it be converted into a success. Instead of attempting to silently ignore the unsatisfactory results of our mission, or to conceal them under a cloud of perfunctory platitudes, it seemed to me our duty to state them with all possible precision of language, to the end that the Commonwealth might derive from our experience the most definite conclusions for its future guidance. For to me it is very clear that the Vienna Exposition is not destined to be the last of its kind. Whether financially it proved a success or failure is matter of small moment, so far as the continuance of the great succession of international fairs is concerned. They constitute a part of the machinery of modern development. As mere bazaars of the nations, if as nothing else, they are destined to an indefinite repetition; for as sensational sales-rooms they are profitable. Others will then hereafter take place in which it will be well for Massachusetts to take her part. Many and obvious reasons will render such a course advisable. The people of Massachusetts form a community, the whole future prosperity of which depends upon its maintaining a superiority over others in matters of education, of ingenuity and of skill. The figures °f the census are significant of coming danger in these O O O respects. Our people will have to follow the path which others have trodden before, and consent to accept lessons from all who can teach them. We, no less than the people of England, of France and of Austria can learn much in these great industrial arenas, where our products will be brought in contact and comparison with those of other communities before our own eyes and those of the world. The ^tate itself, also, as an educator, may derive most useful les- TMmii || Tiiss BBS 28 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. sons from the experience ; for here in America we are at best too far removed from what are still and will long remain the great models of art and the most thorough systems of instruction. If, however, the State is to take her part with other civilized communities in these tests of relative development, it is a matter of no small import that she should appear iii a manner not unworthy of herself. If this could hereafter be secured, it would be perhaps the best and richest result possible to be derived from her own and the nation’s experience at Vienna. In no event, however, should that experience be repeated. That it may not be repeated, it is proper that the truth in regard to it should be told, even though it prove somewhat unpalatable. In doing this, it will be necessary for me to refer to the national representation and that of other States as well as of Massachusetts, though no individual application belongs to any of my remarks. A nation or a community in entering upon the competition of a world’s fair must have one or both of two objects in view ; it must go there to exhibit, or it must go there to observe. In going there, however, for the one object or the other, or for the two combined, there is, after the experience we now have of such undertakings, no possible excuse for any people in going so unprepared or so represented as to either fail in accomplishing the objects it has in view, or to humiliate itself and its citizens in the eyes of those with whom it proposes to compete. Whether to exhibit or to observe, however, it is not too much to say that the entire arrangement of the American organization at Vienna, both state and national, was an utter, entire and disgraceful failure; a failure in conception and a failure in execution ; a failure unjust to our industries, discreditable to the country and humiliating to those more immediately concerned. To us representing the State upon the spot, it was painful to think of what the Massachusetts exposition might easily have been made,—most mortifying to see what it was. A better opportunity to achieve a great and brilliant success in the eyes of all civilized nations was never offered to any community than was lost by the Commonwealth at Vienna. It was lost simply from the fact that the State, as such, undertook to participate without previously having any definite idea either as to what it proposed REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 29 to do, or how it proposed to do it. The means appropriated to the end were ample; the matured design was wanting. In this and in every similar case all depends upon thoroughness of preparation. The course which should have been pursued is now perfectly apparent. The legislative action taken in February, 1873, should have been taken in February, 1872, and the Commissioners who were to carry the design into execution should then immediately have been selected. By them the State should have been thoroughly canvassed and its industries marshalled; those best representing its products should Rave been interested in the scheme, and their contributions collected and shipped, while the agents of the Commonwealth should have been upon the ground to receive them as early as January, 1873. Had this been done, no one at all familiar with the resources and results of her industry can for an instant doubt that the triumph of Massachusetts would have been as conspicuous as was the failure of the United States; her success would have redeemed the credit of the nation. It is idle to regret an opportunity lost, but, in future, it will be for Massachusetts to remember that it is better, much better, not to appear at all, than unworthily to exhibit herself at a world’s fair. A worthy appearance cannot be improvised; it implies labor, prevision and experience. Money even is less necessary than organization; unless this last is provided, both the State and its citizens had best stay at home. All this, however, related merely to the Exposition as a mart,—to the sales-room only into which all countries brought their choicest products in competition with each other. But a no less pointed lesson of experience can be drawn from the manner in which we approach the Exposition as a school. It was not possible to look at the amazing results of science nnd skill there displayed, and not be impressed with the inexhaustible wealth of suggestion they contained for any American community. There is probably no other people w hich could draw so many benefits from it. But to secure those benefits it was necessary that the displayed, and yet more the hidden resources of the Exposition should be studied and developed by men who were masters of their subjects. As a rule, however, the men selected officially to represent 30 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. America were even less creditable to the country than were the wares. It would convey a wholly erroneous impression to say that among the many Americans present during the Exposition, and occupying more or less official relations with it, there were not some competent to fill the positions in which they found themselves placed. It was, however, a melancholy fact that this was the exception and not the rule. The various organizations, as a whole, were the furthest possible from what they should have been. This criticism applied to all, from the commission of the United States down through those of the several states, and to our representatives on thfe juries. I have already sufficiently referred to the strenuous and very partially successful efforts made to discover the material which would enable us to carry out the plan of special reports which we had conceived. As a rule, our researches brought to light only a noticeable absence both of education and of a thorough practical knowledge of specialties. It surely should be a fair matter for presumption, that individuals selected to represent America upon international juries, which are to pass upon the relative excellence or the best results of the industries of all civilized countries, would know something. In far too many instances, those Americans who were appointed to this honorable function at Vienna seemed to fail as regards this elementary prerequisite. It was thus no unusual circumstance to find an individual holding the position of a judge, whose ignorance of the subject-matter under discussion was only surpassed by his ignorance of the language in which the discussion was necessarily conducted. Certain men there were upon the juries amply competent to fill any position,— men of education, at home in the languages and thoroughly versed in their specialties. These, however, constituted brilliant exceptions to the general rule of incompetence. As a whole, the American official representation was a curious and instructive commentary in the eyes of all other countries of both hemispheres upon our national system of appointment to office. Previous qualification for the performance of duties had apparently not been regarded as requisite. There accordingly had flocked to Vienna a motley accumulation of nondescripts, the highest general ambition among whom appeared to be a mention in reportorial paragraphs,—newspaper REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 31 celebrities in matters of education, of science and of art. It was indeed matter of curious observation how very rarely the names of the true scientific authorities—those on the spot recognized as such—were ever mentioned ; and what frequent and noisy reference was made to others whose efforts were least appreciated by those most competent to judge of their worth. There were also in attendance a large number of others occupying positions more or less official, whose presence it was not easy to explain. They had certainly not been commissioned on account of any public service they were qualified to render, and it was difficult to appreciate the exact amount of private benefit they were deriving from their sojourn. They certainly knew nothing, and to all appearances they did nothing. They had apparently secured appointments abroad as an agreeable change from a monotonous and dreary idleness at home. These, however, were at least a negative element,— they were unnoticeable units in a vast aggregation of men. This could not, however, truthfully be said of all. There were among the accredited representatives,—especially the "Honorary Commissioners” of certain of the States,—not a few who reflected a direct discredit upon those by whom they were sent, and whom they were supposed to represent. Individuals who could have received public credentials to the Exposition for no conceivable reason except that they wished to see it, or had some less creditable ends in view, and regarded a governmental commission as a species of letter of credit. It surely need not be said that such a gathering as this is not one from which it is easy to procure complete or philosophical resumes of the results of modern progress. That We succeeded in securing so many as we did, is now somewhat °f a matter of surprise to me. The lesson to be derived from this portion of our experience is, however, an obvious one. So far as studying results upon any general or comprehensive plan of value is concerned, I am persuaded that it is useless for Massachusetts or for any other individual State to send its a gents to future expositions. It is in fact a mere waste of Public money. The end is out of all proportion to the uieans. The material to be met with on the spot is not sufficiently good or reliable, and the field of operations is too remote to justify the great expense which must of neces- 32 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. sity be incurred in selecting and sending to it a complete corps of specialists. The national government only could undertake the task; and the experiences of the past do not justify any confident expectations for the future from that quarter. Should Massachusetts or any other state conclude, therefore, on any future occasion, that results of general importance to its people could be derived from a careful study of the exhibits in a world’s fair, it must abstain from attempting too much. The public press furnishes everything of a general and superficial character that any state commissioner could procure. The art of " cramming ” is by it carried to perfection. Beyond this, however, a real want exists of exhaustive studies in special departments. These, state commissioners, if selected for that purpose, could supply better than any other agency. Take, for instance the great branch of technical and artistic education which has already been referred to. It has of late years undergone a surprising development in Europe, the results of which supplies its most interesting and instructive feature to the recent Exposition. It is now exciting the greatest interest among all thoughtful men in America, and promises infinite results in our immediate future. The Massachusetts commission mio;ht well have been organized with a single view to dealing thoroughly with this department. Had it been so organized, the end in view would have been strictly proportioned to the means at command. To me, personally, from an early period after my arrival at Vienna, it has been a cause of deep regret that this view of the subject was not earlier taken. The experience came, however, too late, and it only remains to see that it is not again repeated. Meanwhile the American Centennial must now be prepared for. It is greatly to be regretted that those who are to represent the Commonwealth there should not also have represented it, as was the original design, at Vienna; the experience would have been invaluable. Meanwhile, if the results of the Vienna commission can be made to contribute to the successful participation of the State in the Centennial, the expense incurred in sending it out will prove a most fortunate outlay. This desired result can be secured in a very simple way. A timely organization must be effected. The work of REPORT OP MR. ADAMS. 33 preparing the contributions of any community for their proper display in an international exposition is now a profession in itself, which, among European nations, has been carried to a high degree of development. Almost every foreign government which participates has, among its agents, men whose experience dates back to the Prince Albert original of 1851, and who know just what ought to be done and exactly how to do.it. The organization effected by these men is as perfect as experience and familiarity with the work can make it. No progress in this direction has as yet been made in America. At Vienna, our authorities showed an utter inability to appreciate either the magnitude and complexity of the undertaking, or the labor and devotion necessary to bring it to a successful issue, while the course which ought to have been pursued was clearly indicated through the success of others. Our own failure both happily and forcibly illustrated almost every conceivable blunder which a people could commit. The work of preparation for 1876 cannot commence too soon in the several states. It should have commenced already. The legislature now in session ought at once to decide upon the course which Massachusetts as a state proposes to take. If it decide to do nothing, then that decision should be final, and should on no account hereafter be reversed at a moment so late that action will be synonymous with failure. If, on the contrary, it is decided to enter into the affair with a local organization, the necessary provision for it should then immediately be made. Under no circumstances should our action be marked by hesitation, or by that tardiness which rendered barren the mission to Vienna. No action at all is better than action after the opportunity is lost. The simplest organization is the best, and to be efficient should be inexpensive. No cumbrous system of salaried commissioners, or* of honorary commissioners with perquisites, is either necessary or desirable. Those who are to represent the State have already been designated. So far as any state organization, as such, is concerned, their duties should be merely advisory; or, if it is thought proper or desirable to create another commission, then those appointed upon it should act simply as a board of unpaid trustees or directors, performing no executive duties themselves, but 5 34 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. supervising, counselling or authorizing the steps taken by him upon whom responsibility must finally rest. Their function is an ornamental, and yet a most important one; they are to lend weight and character and authority to the occasion ; their names should inspire that faith and confidence in the undertaking without which success is not possible. To carry out the work of detail, upon which everything depends, a single secretary to the commissioners should be appointed, who should be the executive officer in charge. He should receive an adequate salary, and for the next three years his whole time and thought should be devoted to the success of the Massachusetts department. With the ordering of the affair as a whole, he would have no connection; his duties would relate simply and solely to the share of his own state. No ordinary or inexperienced man could fulfil the duties of the position, for it is a great error to suppose that it is one either of holiday-work or newspaper renown. On the contrary, these incidents of the exposition business are for others, while only the dry, repulsive, tedious labor of organization and of detail falls to the lot of the executive subordinate. Upon this subject many useful suggestions will be found in a valuable paper supplied to us by Prof. Thomas C. Archer, of Edinburgh, the managing head of the museum at that place, whose long experience qualifies him to speak with the highest degree of authority. This report was procured with a view to its bearing on the Centennial Exposition, and is ready, with others, for immediate publication, should the legislature so order. Meanwhile, as a practical example in point, the English commission at Vienna was probably as good an illustration as could be found. The means placed by the government at its disposal were small, but the results accomplished were all that could be desired. No department was better or more thoroughly organized than the British. The Prince of Wales was the president of the commission, which included fourteen other persons, all of the highest rank, or men well known from their connection with business, science or art. These constituted a species of board of direction, or of trustees, acting, of course, without pay. The secretary of the commission was Mr. Owen, of the South Kensington Museum; and upon him, assisted by a small but REPORT OP MR. ADAMS. 35 f l very efficient staff of his own selection, devolved the whole responsibility and labor of execution. Mr. Owen was a very perfect illustration of what the " one-man power ” ought to be, to which should be confided the work of organizing a national department in a universal exposition. Naturally gifted with remarkable executive powers, he brought to his work a long experience and a great capacity for silent labor. He fully appreciated, the magnitude and importance of his task, and devoted himself wholly and unreservedly to it. He knew perfectly well, both what had to be done, and how to go to work to do it. To him, therefore, was mainly due the very remarkable success of the British display. In him a competent agent had been secured, and he was not trammelled. If Massachusetts is to be properly represented at Philadelphia, the work of organization should, with as little delay as possible, be entrusted to a similar agent. It would then be for him to acquaint himself thoroughly with the industries, science and art of the State, and to put himself in correspondence with those most willing and competent to represent them. It would devolve upon him to see that the plan of representation was perfect in all its parts ; and to be assured of this he must acquaint himself with the experience of other expositions. Such a labor requires high qualities of patience, industry, thorough education, and, above all, great powers of organization. It calls for a familiar acquaintance with all that Massachusetts has done, and with what she is now doing. To procure such an agent may not be easy, but unless he is procured, and that in good time, the legislature can rest assured that, as respects confusion, waste of money, and poverty of result, the experience of Massachusetts at Philadelphia Will be but a repetition on a small scale of that of the United States at Vienna. The idea that such an undertaking can be brought to a successful result, either through the action of a ny committee, or by means of mellifluous oratory, enthusi- a stic rallies and patriotic appeals, is wholly deceptive. It a bsolutely requires perfect concentration, silent work and exclusive devotion. There is good reason to believe that every condition exists Necessary to make a decided success of the proposed Philadelphia Centennial. The court pageant, which has played so brill- 36 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. iant and essential a part in its great European prototypes will, it is true, necessarily be wanting. The mercantile element, however, which has*proved the great main-spring of all recent expositions, will there be present in a more than ordinary degree. Throughout the civilized world America is known as a great market; as a market in which fabulous prices are paid, especially for those things which are rich or rare. Accordingly, all the leading producers of the world, whether of objects of utility or of art, will wish to be represented. They will come with every conceivable product of human skill, and, more especially, with those a familiarity with which is in itself a liberal education, and the production of which oilers well-nigh unlimited fields for American development. The zeal and public spirit with which the city and state most immediately concerned have thrown themselves into the undertaking have been most creditable, and, unaided, should suffice to secure the happiest results. All that is needed is a thorough concentration, economy and direction of force. The vulgar ambition of unprecedented bigness should be made to yield to an educated appreciation of excellence. There can be no question that the devotion of those who have the Centennial in charge will create in it a wide-spread and sufficing interest. Mismanagement, arising from ignorance, incompetence and jobbery,—a repetition of the Vienna experience,—will be the great danger to be apprehended. If that experience can now be turned to an immediate profit in preventing its own recurrence, we shall have some cause not wholly to deplore it. This, however, can only come from action, both intelligent and prompt, on the part of the various state governments, who will be the leading participants. Should this be deferred to the last moment, and then hastily improvised, those who rashly implicate themselves will probably have as good ultimate cause for regret as did the vast majority of their countrymen, who, during the last summer, found themselves in any way officially connected with the national fiasco at Vienna. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Jr. tables OF EXHIBITS, Etc. No. 1 .—Table of American Exhibits , showing the Groups to which they severally belonged , and the Medals or Diplomas of gg each description awarded to them. Gboup. Number of Exhibits. Diploma of Honor. Medal of Progress. Medal of Merit. Diploma of Merit. Medal for Fine Arts. Medal for Good Taste. Medal for Co- operators. Total Awards. I. Mining, Quarrying and Metallurgy,. S6 - l 9 4 - - 1 15 II. Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry, .... 42 - l 3 5 - - - 9 in. Chemical Industry,. 41 - - 19 10 - - - 29 IV. Substances of Food as Products of Industry, 69 - 9 25 17 - - - 51 V. Textile Industry and Clothing,. 34 - 2 20 5 - - - 27 VI. Leather and India-rubber Industry,. 25 - 1 4 10 - - - 15 VII. Metal Industry,. 53 - 1 7 16 - - - 24 vm. Wood Industry,. 13 - 2 4 1 - - - 7 IX. Stone, Earthenware and Glass Industry, .... 19 - - 1 2 - - - 3 X. Small Ware and Fancy Goods,. 10 - - 1 1 - - - 2 XI. Paper Industry and Stationery,. 17 - 2 8 5 - - - 15 XII. Graphic Arts and Industrial Drawing,. 36 - 6 10 7 - 3 2 28 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA, xm 1 General and Agricultural Machinery, . I 151 8 33 29 25 - - 18 108 XIV. Philosophical Surgical Instruments,. 31 1 2 1 3 - 2 9 XV. Musical Instruments,. 6 - 2 - 2 - - - 4 XVI. The Art of War,. 16 - 1 11 - - - - 12 XVII. The Navy,. 8 1 - 2 2 - - - 5 XVIII. Civil Engineering, Public Works and Architecture, 15 - 1 2 6 - - - 9 XX. The Farm-house, its Arrangements, Furniture and Utensils, • 1 - - - - - - - - XXI. National Domestic Industry,. 2 - - - 1 - - - 1 XXIII. Art applied to Religion, . . . ... 2 - - - - - - - - XXV. Fine Arts of the Present Time,. 16 - - - - 2 - - 2 Total,. 643 5 64 156 122 2 5 21 375 Total awards for exhibited objects, 349 03 ' CO REPORT OF MR. ADAMS No. 2 .—Table of Massachusetts Exhibits , with the Groups to which they severally belonged , and the Medals or Diplomas of ^ each description awarded to them. Group. • Number of Exhibits. Medal of Progress. Medal of Merit. Diploma of Merit. Medal for Co- operators. Total Awards. I. Milling, Quarrying and Metallurgy,. - - - - - - II. Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry, . . . . - - - - - - III. Chemical Industry,.' . 4 - 1 1 - 2 IV. Substances of Food as Products of Industry, . . 2 2 - - 2 V. Textile Industry and Clothing, . . . . • 7 2 3 - - 5 VI. Leather and India-rubber Industry,. 2 - - - - VII. Metal Industry,... . 10 - 1 3 - 4 VIII. Wood Industry,.. 2 1 1 - 2 IX. Stone, Earthenware and Glass Industry, ... - - - - - - X. Small Ware and Fancy Goods,.' . - - - - - XI. Paper Industry and Stationery,. - - - - - - XII. Graphic Arts and Industrial Drawing,. 1 1 - - - 1 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA XIII. 1 General and Agricultural Machinery, . 1 17 7 4 1 1 . 13 XIV. 1 Philosophical Surgical Instruments,. 2 - - - - - XV. [ Musical Instruments,. 1 1 - - - 1 • XYI. The Art of War,. 3 1 3 - - 4 XYII. The Navy,. - - - - - - XYIII. Civil Engineering, Public Works and Architecture, .... 2 - - - - - XX. The Farm-house,. 1 - - - - - XXI. National Domestic Industry,. - - - - - - xxm. Art applied to Religion,. - - - - - - XXV. Fine Arts of the Present Time. . .. 1 - - - - - Total,. 55 13 15 5 1 ‘ 34 Total awards for exhibited objects,.33 momma REPORT OF MR. ADAMS No. 3 .—Table showing the Contributions of each of the several States of the Union to each of the Groups. Group. Alabama. California. Colorado. Connecticut. , Dist. Columbia. Georgia. Illinois. Indiana. Kansas. Kentucky. Louisiana. Maine. Massachusetts. Maryland. Michigan. Missouri. I. Mining, Quarrying and Metallurgy, - 1 2 - - - 2 1 - - 3 - - - 1 7 II. Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry, . 2 1 - - - - - 1 - - 19 - - - - 6 III. 2 - - 1 3 - 4 - 1 IV. Substances of Food as Products of Industry,. - 3 - - - - 1 1 - 1 19 1 2 - - 9 V. Textile Industry and Clothing, - - - - 1 - 1 - - - 3 - 7 1 - 2 VI. Leather and India-rubber Industry, 2 1 - 2 1 - 1 VII. Metal Industry,. - - - 4 1 - 2 - 1 - 1 - 10 - - - VIII. Wood Industry,. - - - 1 - - - - - - 1 - 2 - - IX. Stone, Earthenware and Glass Industry, - 1 - - - - 1 - - 1 - - - - - 2 X. Small Ware and Fancy Goods, - - - 1 - - - - - - 2 - - - » 1 XI. Paper Industry and Stationery, - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - - 1 XII. Graphic Arts and Industrial Drawing, . - 3 - - 1 - 2 - - - 4 - 1 - - 2 u> EXPOSITION AT VIENNA, XIII. 1 General and Agricultural Machinery, ' - - - jU - - 8 1 1 - 2 - 17 2 - - XIV. Philosophical Surgical Instruments, - - - 1 1 1 - - 5 - 2 - - - XY. Musical Instruments, -. 1 1 1 XVI. The Art of War,. - - - 2 7 - - - - 1 - - 3 - - - XVII. The Navy,. XVIII. Civil Engineering, Public Works and Archit’re, - - - - 1 - - - - 1 1 - 2 - - - XX. The Farm-house,. - - - - - - - - - - - - 1 - - - XXI. National Domestic Industry, .... 1 - xxm. XXV. Fine Art of the Present Time, - - - - ’ 1 - 1 - - - - -■ 1 - - - Total,. 2 9 2 23 6 1 20 5 2 8 65 1 55 4 2 33 EE PORT OF ME. ADAMS, No. 3 .—Table showing the Contributions , &c. —Concluded. Group. Mississippi. OS «S « « o !h it o New Jersey. North Carolina. o 2 o Pennsylvania. Rhode Island. Tennessee. oS X 2 XXV. Fine Arts of the Present Time, - - 6 - - 4 2 1 16 Total,. 3 1 216 15 1 86 43 12 3 1 2 1 9 2 10 643 REPOET OF MR. ADAMS. 46 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA, t No. 4.— Table showing the Diplomas or Medals awarded to the Exhibits of the several States in each of the Groups. STATE. Xumber of Exhibits. Diploma of Honor. Medal of Progress. Medal of Merit. Diploma of Merit. Medal for Fine Arts. Medal for Good Taste. Medal for Co-operators. Total Awards. Awards for Exhibited Objects. Alabama, 2 1 % 1 1 California, 9 * 5 4 _ _ __ 9 9 Colorado, . . . 2 Connecticut, . 23 _ 4 9 6 _ 3 22 19 District of Columbia, . 6 1 _ 1 1 __ 3 3 Georgia, 1 Illinois, .... 20 - - 6 6 _ 12 12 Indiana, 5 _ — 2 1 _ 1 4 3 Kansas, .... 2 _ _ _ _ _ Kentucky, 8 - - 2 3 _ — 5 5 Louisiana, 65 - 2 9 7 — — __ 18 18 Maine, .... 1 _ — 1 _ _ 1 1 Massachusetts, 55 _ 13 15 5 _ _ 1 34 33 Maryland, 4 - - 1 2 _ — _ 3 3 Michigan, 2 - _ _ 1 _ _ 1 1 Missouri, 33 - 1 4 4 __ 9 9 Mississippi, . 3 - - - 1 - _ — 1 1 Nevada, 1 - - 1 _ _ _ _ 1 1 New York, . 216 1 23 55 56 1 4 9 149 136 New Jersey, . 15 - 2 3 6 - _ _ 11 11 North Carolina, . 1 - - - _ — _ Ohio, .... 86 7 21 10 - 1 7 46 38 Pennsylvania, 43 2 4 13 6 - - 25 25 Rhode Island, 12 1 2 4 2 _ * ■ _ 9 9 Tennessee, . 3 _ _ 1 _ _ _ 1 1 Texas, .... 1 - — 1 _ _ 1 1 Virginia, 2 West Virginia, 1 Vermont, 9 - - _ 1 _ _ 1 1 Wisconsin, . 2 - - 1 2 _ _ 3 3 Miscellaneous, 10 - 1 1 2 1 - 5 5 Total, 643 5 64 156 122 2 5 21 375 349 , REPORT OF MR. ADAMS 47 No. 5 .—Table showing the Number of Establishments engaged in each of thirty-two of the Leading Industries of Massachusetts , as reported in the United States Census for 1870 , and the total value of their Annual Production , with the Number of Exhibits contributed by each to the Vienna Exposition. À a u w W cm u o A s Kind of Industry. © Ö u 2 2 S a % S3 S Value of Products. Ö O 1 1 a ä a A I A i Boots and Shoes, .... 1,123 $86,565,445 3 2 Cars,'. 6 2,408,827 - 3 Carriages,. 326 4,038,656 - 4 Buttons,. 9 511,175 — 5 Agricultural Implements, 37 1,033,590 — 6 Cutlery,. 12 1,617,904 7 Cotton Goods,. 191 44,832,375 1 8 Fire-arms,. 12 865,481 3 9 Furniture,. 324 11,522,448 - 10 Drugs and Chemicals, 22 1,800,399 - 11 Edgetools and Axes, 12 969,224 1 12 Glassware and Window Glass, 14 2,371,000 - 13 India-rubber Goods, ... 32 3,183,218 1 14 Instruments, Prof, and Scientific, 12 328,800 2 15 Leather, ...... 138 9,984,497 2 16 Machinery, ..... Men’s Clothing, .... Musical Instruments, 346 18,354,052 17 17 18 446 60 20,212,407 4,453,794 1 19 Paper,. Jewelry,. 95 12,677,481 - 20 59 2,342,025 - 21 Prints, . . * . 11 17,325,150 - 22 Paper Collars,. 9 997,000 - 23 Saddlery and Harness, 247 1,503,994 - 24 Plated Ware,. 37 1,012,100 - 25 Nails and Tacks, .... 43 5,285,244 3 26 Straw Goods,. 14 4,869,514 - 27 W atches,. 3 1,281,160 - 28 Whips and Canes, .... 38 604,367 - 29 Wire. 6 2,354,672 - 30 W oodenware,. 25 538,402 1 31 Wooden Goods,. 182 39,489,242 2 32 Worsted Goods, .... 35 8,280,541 “ | Totals,. 3,796 $313,514,184 37 48 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA LIST OF-MASSACHUSETTS EXHIBITORS. Group I. Mining, Quarrying and Metallurgy. No Exhibits. 1 . 2 . 3 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 6 . 6 . 7 . Group II. Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry. No Exhibits. ' Group III. Chemical Industry. Morse Bros., . . Canton, . . Stove Polish. Ilauthaway & Sons, . . . Boston, . . Leather Dressings. Nye, W. F., . . . . New Bedford, . Oils. Group TV. Substances of Food as Products of Industry. Underwood, Wm., & Co.,. . Boston, . Canned Articles. Baker, Walter, & Co., . . Boston, . Chocolate and Cocoa. Group V. Textile Industry and Clothing. Blackinton, S., & Sons, . . N. Adams, . Cassimeres. Exhibited by Pomeroy & Plummer, New York. Bigelow Carpet Co.,. . . Clinton, . Carpets. Exhibited by W . & J. Sloane, New York. Brewer, Gardner, & Co., . . Boston, Schayer Brothers, . . . Boston, Neil, Mrs. J. G., . . . Cambridge, . Lilly, Young, Pratt & Brackett, Lynn, . Walker, J. H. & G. M., . . Worcester, . Shirtings. Boots and Shoes. (See Group VI.) Feather Wreath. Shoes. Boots. REPORT OF MR. ADAMS 49 Group VI. Leather and India-rubber Industry. 1. Upton, Franklin & Co.,. . Boston, . . Sole Leather. 2. Schayer Brothers,. . . Boston, . . Alligator Hides. Group VII. Metal Industry. 1. American Tack Co., 2. Barny, E. H.,.... 3. Douglas Axe Manuf. Co., 4. Dunbar, Hobart & Whidden, 5. Field, A., & Sons, . 6. Henshaw, Edward, 7. Moulton, E. S., 8. Nichols, F. \Y., . 9. Tower, Geo. W., . 10. Sherman, W. B., . Boston, . Springfield, Boston, . So. Abington, . Taunton, . Boston, . Chelsea, . Boston, . Cambridgeport, Boston, . Tacks and Brads. Skates. Axes. Tacks and Nails. Tacks and Nails. Shoe Findings. Pipe Tongs. Hinge. Pipe Tools and Dies. Spades and Shovels. 1. Sturtevant, B. F., . 2. Parks, A. S., . Group VIII. Wood Industry. . Boston, . . Winchendon, Wood for Shoe-pegs. Water-pails. Group IX. Stone, Earthenware and Glass Industry. No Exhibits. Group X. Small Ware and Fancy Goods. No Exhibits. Group XI. Paper Industry and Stationery. No Exhibits. Group XII. Graphic Arts and Industrial Drawing. Prang, L., & Co., . . . Boston, . . Chromo-Lithographs. 7 wsÈBSÊËsm « ! 50 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. Group XIII. General and Agricultural Machinery Ashcroft, E. H., 2 . 3. 4. 5. 6 . 7. 8 . 9. 10 . 11 . 12 . 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. Avery, J G., . Bigelow, H. II., Dodge, Theo. A., Eames, Bigelow & Co., . Evans, A. D., . Excelsior Gas Machine Co., Hall, Thomas,. Knapp Dovetailing Mach. Co., Northampton, Lamb Knitting Machine Co., Morse Twist Drill Co., . Raddin, J. G., . . . . Lynn, Stephens,—, .... . . Townsend, H. E., . . . Boston, . Whitney, Baxter D., . . Winchendon, Witherby, Rugg & Richardson, Worcester, Ferguson, —, . . . . Roxbury,. Boston, . . Steam-fittings. Afterwards exhibited in British Department. Spencer, . . Wool-spinner. Worcester, . Heel Machinery. Cambridge, McKay ShoeMach’ry. Not examined by the Jury. . Wheels. . Covered Shuttles.* . Gas Machines. . Vise. . Dovetailing Machine. Chicopee Falls, Knitting Machines. New Bedford, . Twist Drills. Carriage Wheels. Vise.f Shoe Machinery. Wood-work’g Mach’y. Wood-work’g Mach’y. Sheep-shear’g Macli.f Framingham, Boston, . Warren, . Northampton, Group XIY. Philosophical Surgical Instruments. 1. Lowe, N. M.,. 2. Spare, John, . . Boston, . . New Bedford, Hygrodeik. Hyperbolic Paraboloid and Hyperboloid. Group XY. Musical Instruments. 1. Mason & Hamlin Organ Co., . Boston, . . Organs. 1. Smith & Wesson, . 2. U. S. Armory, . 3. U. S. Cartridge Co., Group XYI. The Art op War. . . Springfield, .. . Springfield, . . Lowell, . Group XYII. The Navy. No Exhibits. . Revolvers. . Arms, &c. . Metallic Cartridges. * In official catalogue, but not exhibited. t Not in catalogue, but exhibited. REFORT OF MR. ADAMS. 51 Group XVIII. Civil Engineering, Public Works and Architecture. /■Models of plates and 1. Voelckers, Theodore, . . Boston, . .< anchors for floor- l timbers. 2. Brackett, E. A., . . Winchester, . Fishway. Group XIX. The Private Dwelling-house, its Inner Arrangement and Decoration. No Exhibits. Group XX. The Farm-house, its Arrangements, Furniture and Utensils. L Appleton, F. H., . . . West Roxbury, . Plan of model farm. Group XXI. National Domestic Industry. No Exhibits. Group XXII. Exhibition showing the Organization and Influence of Museums of Fine Art as Applied to Industry. No Exhibits. Group XXIII. Art Applied to Religion. No Exhibits. Group XXIV. Objects of Fine Arts of the Past, Exhibited by Amateurs and Owners of Collections. No Exhibits. Group XXV. Fine Arts of the Present Time, Works Produced since the Second London Exhibition of 1862 . !• M ay, C. Granville, . . Boston, . . Landscape Painting. mmamasmma a m 52 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. LIST OF AWARDS. Massachusetts Exhibition. Grand Diplomas of Honor. 1. The State of Massachusetts, for valuable Reports and Documents, and for the enterprise shown by its organized personal representation at Vienna. 2. The City of Boston, for its full and complete illustration of its School System and Schools. 1 . 2 . 3. 4. o. 6 . 7. 8 . 9. 10 . 11 . 12 . 13. 14. Avery, John G., Bigelow, Horace H., Blackinton, S., & Sons, Medals for Progress. . . . Spencer, . . Continuous Wool-sp Worcester, . Heel Machinery. N. Adams, . Fancy Cassimeres. Exhibited by Pomeroy & Plummer, N. Y. Warren, . . Appar. for mak. gas Northampton, . Parallel Bench Vise. Boston, . Excelsior Gas Machine Co., Hall, Thomas, . Howe, Dr. S. G., Knapp Dovetail’g Machine Co., Northampton, Lilly, Young, Pratt & Brackett, Lynn, Mason & Hamlin Organ Co., . Boston, Morse Twist Drill Co., . . New Bedford, Prang, L., & Co., Smith & Wesson, Sturtevant, B. J., Whitney, Baxter D.,. Boston, Springfield, Boston, Winchendon, Pub. for Blind. Dovetailing Mach. Boots and Shoes. Cabinet Organs. Incre’se Twist Drills. Chromo-Lithogr’phs. Revolvers. Wood for Shoe-pegs. Wood-w’k’g Mach’y. Medals for Merit. 1. United States Armory, 2. Baker, Walter, & Co., 3. Blackinton & Co., 4. Barny, E. H., . 5. Brewer, Gardner, & Co., . 6. Brewer & Tileston, . 7. Hauthaway, C. L., & Sons, 8. Lamb Knitting Machine Co., 9. Marcon, Jules,. 10. Mason, Luther Whiting, . 11. Parks, A. S., 12. Ross, Joseph L., . Springfield, . Boston, . . Arms & Ammunit’n. f Chocolate and Cocoa \ preparations. . North Adams, . Cassimeres. Exhibited by Pomeroy & Plummer, N. Y. . Springfield, . Club Skates. . Boston, . . Fine“G. B.” Shirt’gs. . Boston, . . School Publications. . Boston, . . Leather Dressings. . Chicopee Falls, Hand-knitting Mach. f Geognostic Map of \ the World. f Syst’m of Instruction \ in Music. . Winchendon, . Amer’n Water-pails. . Boston, . . School Furniture. . Boston, . Boston, REPORT OF MR. ADAMS. 53 13. Bigelow Cai’pet Co , 14. Stephens, —, . 15. Townsend, II. E., 16. Underwood, Wm., & Co.,. 17. United States Cartridge Co., . 18. United States Armory, 19. Walker, Q. II. & G. M., . 20. Witherby, Rugg & Richardson, Clinton, . . Carpets. Exhibited by W. & J. Sloane, New York. . Vises. ., Shoe Machinery. f Canned Fruits, Fish, \ V’getab’s & Meats. Lowell, . . Metallic Cartridges. Springfield, . Gun stocks. Worcester, . Boots. Worcester, . Wood-w’king Mach. Boston, Boston, Medals for Co-operators. 1. Felt, Luther W., with J. G. Avery, Spencer. Diplomas of Merit or Honorable Mention. t, , f Samples of Tacks & V Brads. [Rails. So. Abington, . Samples of Tacks & Roxbury,. . Sheep-shear’g Mach. „ . f Shoe Tools and Sam- Boston, . < , 4 pies of Pegs. . f Disseminat’n & Pro- B0Sto "’ ' \ motion of Science. 6. Newton, the town of, School Reports and Photographs of Buildings. 7. Nichols, F. W.,. . • . . Boston, . . Wall Desk. s at TT7- x- t. ic i f Sewing-machine and 8 ' Nye ’ W ' F . Bedford - \ Watch Oil. 9. Shattuck, W. G., Boston, . . Sch’l Desks & Seats. 10. Worcester, city of, School Reports and Photographs of Buildings. 11. N. B. Sherman,. . . .Boston, . . Shovels and Spades. 1. American Tack Co.,. 2. Dunbar, Hobart & Widden, 3. Ferguson, —, . 4. Henshaw, Edward, . 5. Lowell Institute, Diplomas of Honor, .... 2 Medals of Progress, .... . 14 Medals of Merit, .... . 20 Diplomas of Merit, .... . 11 Medal for Cooperators, . 1 Total Awards, . 48 4 54 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. REPORT OF MR. HILL. The undersigned, appointed an Associate Commissioner on the part of the State of Massachusetts to the Exposition held at Vienna, is directed, by the terms of his commission, to report to the next legislature. In conformity with this duty, he begs to submit the following:— Under the arrangement made between the writer and his associates, the general organization and conduct of the Commission in Vienna was undertaken by the Chief Commissioner, and the undersigned was charged w r ith the special duty of examining the details of the Exposition. This Report will therefore be principally devoted to a description of this Exposition, a consideration of its relation to the productive industries of the world, and the proper lessons that we should draw from it as citizens of Massachusetts. The writer, having received his commission on the 31st day of March, 1873, took passage from Boston by steamer of the 12th of April, and arrived in Vienna on the 11th of May, having made only a few days’ delay in England, to examine some of the large manufacturing establishments of that coun- try. The troubles in the United States Commission had but a few days before come to a head, and everything connected with our portion of the Exposition was in a state of disorganization and confusion. Mr. Jackson S. Schultz, appointed by our government to succeed our former Chief Commissioner, arrived, however, upon the 15th of May. The writer considered it his first duty to qffer his services to Mr. Schultz, in case he could thus serve the interests of any Massachusetts citizens, or advance the badly delayed exhibition of the United States. Mr. Schultz, however, undertook his work with the help of a small num- REPORT OF MR. HILL. 55 ber of the assistant United States Commissioners, whom he selected at Vienna, and, with his well-known vigor, advanced it much more rapidly than could have been expected. In this connection, the writer’s knowledge of the facts makes it proper for him to speak of the services of Professor E. N. llorsford, of Cambridge, in this State, who, as a member of the scientific commission of the United States, was present in Vienna, and who gave himself unsparingly to the assistance of the Chief Commissioner. Much of the progress which was made, both in the preparation of the exhibits and in the organization of committees, juries, etc., was due to his efforts. Massachusetts exhibitors especially are indebted to him for attention to their interests. Before the arrival of the writer, Mr. Frank Millett, the secretary of the Massachusetts Commission, who had been despatched by Mr. Adams to Vienna, had secured proper rooms for the use of the Commission. These rooms were at once taken possession of, and the Commission was organized and immediately entered upon the duties assigned to the different members. As has been said, it was a principal duty of the undersigned to study the details of the Exposition, and, therefore, with the exception of such attendance as was necessary at the office of the Commission, and a week devoted to the Patent Congress, of which mention will be made hereafter, his whole time at Vienna was spent on the grounds. Upon entering upon the study of the Exposition, the first points which engaged attention were those relating to the general plan of the buildings and their inclosure. This matter seems to have received a great deal of thought on the part of the Austrian authorities, but it is doubtful if they settled it in a way perfectly satisfactory to a majority of vis- dors; and, in fact, it is not easy of solution in an exposition so large as this. The French Exposition of 1867 was built in the form of an ellipse, in which the different nations occupied segments, whose separating lines radiated from a common centre, while the different classes or groups of exhibits m the different nations were placed in the same ring or circle. Thus, in passing from the centre outward, the visitor was always among the products of the same nation, but went 56 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. from one class to another. In moving around the centre on any given circle, he was always in the same group or class, but went from one nation to another. Admirable as this plan was in theory, grave objections were found in practice. First, it was found impossible to adjust properly either the space devoted to each nation, or the relative space occupied by different groups in each nation. Moreover, the building, arranged in this form, could only be lighted from above, and by experience it has been found very difficult to make roofs so lighted water-proof, when only erected for temporary purposes. Lastly, to the majority of visitors, the arrangement described is extremely confusing, on account of the impossibility of keeping the points of the compass, and of finding desired places of exit, after circulating through the curves of the exhibition building. All these defects would have been greatly exaggerated, had the plan of the Paris Exposition been repeated at Vienna, owing to the vastly greater size of the latter exhibition, which was nearly four times that of the former. The Austrian authorities decided to abandon the idea of the association of like groups in the different nations, except in certain special cases,—as fine arts, machinery, etc., which were placed in buildings by themselves,—and adopted the plan of comparatively narrow buildings, lighted from the side, in which the only aim was to place the products of each nation by themselves. The main building, or industrial palace, consisted of a hall three thousand feet long and eighty-three feet wide ; and, to give additional space, this was crossed by seventeen transepts, averaging five hundred feet long by fifty- one feet wide. Parallel with this main building, there was erected a machinery hall, twenty-six hundred and fifty-one feet long, and one hundred and sixty-four feet wide. Beyond these were erected another series of buildings for pictures, statuary and other works of art. This arrangement of comparatively narrow buildings, while it gave an opportunity of lighting from the sides by windows under the roof, added very largely to the cost, on account of the great extent of wall in proportion to the space inclosed. It also rendered the work of one who wished to trace any particular branch of production through different nations very difficult, by REPORT OF MR. HILL. 57 reason of the distances which separated them. This difficulty was again aggravated by the fact that the original buildings proving much too small, between nearly all the transepts covered courts were built; and, in addition to this, other large buildings were erected by several governments, in which a portion of their groups or classes of exhibits were displayed. It thus became a serious work, even for those most familiar with the Exposition, and to all others a hopeless task, to trace a single class of productions through the space of the different nationalities. Another great objection to the arrangement of buildings adopted was the utter absence of that impressiveness, which arises from general effects. Had the buildings been so designed as to inclose the great mass of exhibits under one roof, and bring them all in sight at one time, the Exhibition would have been wonderfully more grand and interesting than it Vas. As arranged, it was only to those who spent a long period in daily examination of the various transepts, courts, rooms, buildings, "annexes,” special exhibits, etc., that its vastness became apparent. The majority of visitors, who came for a few days and went away again, never saw one-half of the various places of exhibition, and got so confused an idea of what they did visit that it was impossible for them to associate the special rooms, halls, etc., with the nations which occupied them, or to understand the relations of their contents to those of other neighboring apartments. If it could be decided, before the erection of the main x e difice, what space in the whole, and what in each group or class of objects each nation would require, the construction of proper buildings would be much simplified. But this has been found impossible, and in all the later exhibitions the demand % .most of the leading nationalities has, at the last moment, I*een found greater than the space allotted, and they have been forced to place a considerable portion of their articles of exhibition in specially erected buildings, entirely separated from their proper association with objects of the same kind, and from others from the same country. Thus, at Yienna, the American exhibit of agricultural implements—the finest, in some respects, in the exhibition ground—was placed in a building, erected for the purpose, behind the general agricult- 58 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. ural buildings of the western European nations. In an obscure place, of special interest to only a fraction of the visitors, it was entirely unseen by the great mass, to whom it would have been a revelation of our mechanical skill and taste, had their attention been drawn to it by finding its exhibits before them while examining the other departments in one common building. The same thing is true of the German school system, of considerable portions of the Swiss exhibition, of the French, of part of the Russian, etc. The most important points in designing a building for the purpose of an exhibition would seem to be,— First , the study of some w T ater-tight arrangement for light' ing from above, by what are called monitor roofs, or otherwise, which would enable the architect to cover in as large a space, both in length and breadth, as he should see fit, in one open area, uninterrupted with corners or angles to break the view. Second, an arrangement of exhibits by which the different nations should have all their goods together, so that what each had contributed to the Exposition could be at once seen, and and an idea easily gained of the character and quality of its productions in each group. Third, the arrangement should be such that the exhibits in the different groups, if not directly contiguous to those of the same groups belonging to the next nation, should at least be disposed in the space of each nation according to some simple and easily understood rule, so that the position of any particular class could be found among their exhibits. Finally, it would be a great advantage if, while the roof and its supports were erected in good season, the buildings were so constructed that the size could be readily extended in certain directions, so as to be prepared for an unexpected amount of goods from any nation without forcing that nation to break up the proper order and classification of its exhibits by putting a part of them in separate buildings. In drawing attention to these points, it is to be remembered that, while an exhibition like this is of much interest and value to specialists, men of science, manufacturers and merchants, its great usefulness lies in its character of an instructor of the masses. REPORT OF MR. HILL. 59 The great majority of visitors are only temporary, and therefore to render an exposition of its greatest value to such people it must be so arranged as to enable them to make comparisons easily and clearly. Undoubtedly, the Vienna Exposition was, above all things, intended as a means of education to the Austrians ; but, it is safe to say, that of all the Austrians who visited it, not one in a hundred went away with any clear idea of its va^ness as a whole, or of the relative richness of the different countries, in the twenty-six or more classes into which it was divided. In regard to the buildings themselves and the material of which they were composed, owing to the nature of the soil in the Prater where the exhibition was held, the principal erections were all placed on piles. The walls were of brick, apparently very heavy and covered with cement. The roof was a semi-circular arch. The main entrances were built with much regard to architectural effect, and adorned above with emblematic figures. The most striking portion of the buildings was the huge dome which stood in the centre of the length of the great industrial palace. This was designed by Mr. Scott Russell, and was a really extraordinary undertaking. It stood on a circle of large piers. From the summit of these, angle-iron beams ran up towards the centre, where they all rested against an iron ring which received their thrust. The ceiling of the dome was attached to the underside of these beams. Its base was eighty feet above the ground and three hundred and forty-eight feet across ; above, it opened through the ring into a cylindrical lantern, one hundred feet in diameter and thirty feet high, and from that into a smaller lantern. The whole height was not less than two hundred and seventy- five feet. The portion of the park devoted to the Exposition included a hout three hundred and fifty acres. On these were, first, the industrial palace, of which ive have spoken, running east and west, having its seventeen transepts across it, and its great dome in the midst. Parallel to this on the north, and distant from it about five hundred feet, was the machinery-hall, between these two, near either end, were large wooden build- lll gs, each covering somewhat more space tlian the great Coli- 60 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. seum, so called, lately erected in Boston, which were devoted to agricultural exhibits. In a line with these, and between the industrial and machinery-halls, were numerous other buildings, —some erected by the various countries to display their surplus exhibits, some the special buildings of private exhibitors. Beyond the end of the industrial palace were the art buildings, also of brick and stucco, handsomely decorated with architectural ornaments, and surrounded with arcades. In the fifty-two rooms of these buildings were displayed some thirty-two hundred paintings and one thousand statues. Still beyond these, an arched gateway led to'a portion of the grounds in which were many buildings of a temporary nature, some illustrating the various types of peasant houses of Eastern Europe, others built as models of stables, barns, etc., etc. South of the great industrial palace, before its front, were many other erections, such as the Persian and the Egyptian palaces; the Japanese village, of which the very wood was brought from Japan; iron buildings; others of artificial stone; others set up by the lighthouse board, the navy department, and other branches of the Austrian administration. With these were characteristic buildings of almost every nationality, erected as restaurants. Here also was the palace of the emperor of Austria, and, opposite to it, the juries’ pavilion. Altogether, there were more than two hundred buildings within the inclosure of the Exposition grounds. These grounds themselves were laid out in squares of the finest turf, intersected with gravel walks, bordered with beds of flowers, and dotted with ponds, in which were fountains. The whole was arranged with that taste which seems natural to the Austrians. This description gives but a feeble idea of the grounds and buildings of the Vienna Exposition, upon which the Austrian government expended more than ten millions of dollars, and which was intended to be by far the most complete of any that has been held. Turning from the buildings to the articles in them, the first thing to be noted is this: that, contrary to the general impression in America, the contributions of the different nations were not mere irregular collections of incidental objects, furnished by parties who desired to advertise themselves, but, REPORT OF MR. HILL. 61 on the other hand, were well assorted, and generally complete illustrations of the industries of the several countries, with one unfortunate exception. We believe this is true of all the principal nations. The spirit which seems to have animated them is well illustrated in the address of the French commissioners to the public at the time of their appointment. After speaking of the material advantages to be gained from this Exposition, they continue :— “Beyond these material advantages, on which it is useless to dilate, so obvious are they, there is always in France a sentiment to which appeal has never been made in vain—that of patriotism. France must be worthily represented at the universal Exposition in Vienna. She must present herself there in a manner to prove that she has not fallen from the high rank which belongs to her in the civilized world, and that on the morrow even of the dolorous events "which have lately transpired, she is ready to sustain the reputation she has acquired in the arts—in productions where intelligence and modern science, taste, invention or skilled hand-labor have gained a superiority never contested.” In this spirit, the French entered into the Exposition, and government and people joined in making it in fact all that this address indicated. It is but fair to add, that the spirit of the other leading nations was not behind that of the French, and that they Kiade a good and general display of their various industries, re gardless of the consideration that they might not gain for them an immediate sale. From this it resulted the Exposition was in reality a universal exposition of the world’s industries, and that the visitor could there study the present status of any matter in which he was interested,—in every Part of the Old World, at least. The arrangements of the exhibits of the different nations ln the Exposition was simply geographical. Those of the New World being at the extreme western end of the various buildings, the Japanese and Chinese at the eastern, the other countries between, according to their geographical positions. The machinery was, as has been said, in a building by itself, but the exhibits of the different countries were there arranged ln the same order. The agricultural machinery and produc- 62 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. tions were divided between the two buildings appropriated to them, that between the westerly ends of the main and machinery halls to the western European nations, the other to the more easterly. Many countries—as Brazil, the United States, China, Japan, etc.—displayed what they had of agricultural productions in the great industrial palace, with their other exhibits. The purely art-exhibitions, including paintings, statuary, engravings, etc., were also gathered into their own group of buildings, in whose fifty-two rooms those of each nation were, as far as possible, arranged by themselves. The relative space occupied by the different countries will be found in the notes following this report. The number of contributors from each country, as represented in the second edition of the official catalogue, will also be found therewith, and will be some indication of the relative display of the different countries. It is to be remembered that the space occupied is not always an indication of the amount of exhibits, as in some countries they were vastly more crowded than in others; and in some, as the United States, any number of duplicates were admitted, while in others, exhibitors were confined to such as would.properly illustrate their manufactures. The number of exhibitors, again, has little to do with the number or quantity of the articles exhibited, very much larger and more varied collections being sent by some individuals than by others. Again, in some countries, as the United States, the exhibitors were all individuals, while from others it was often the custom for a large number of persons to make what is called a " collective exhibition.” Thus, some of the French silk manufacturers united in exhibition of their products, covering nearly half as much space as all the United States. Also, many cities, many governmental departments, many colleges, museums, schools of agriculture, etc., sent magnificent collections. Many even fitted up large buildings at their own expense, but yet 'count only for a single exhibitor. Special attention should be given to this mode of exhibition, which secures many advantages at the minimum of expense. The system is calculated to induce a better and more complete collection of the class of productions in question. It enables the parties concerned to avail themselves of the best talent in the arrangement. The importance and size REPORT OF MR. HILL. 63 of the collective exhibition gives opportunity for display, and draws the attention of the public to it in a way that the individual exhibitors could not separately. Should our citizens take, as it is to be hoped they will, a prominent part in the United States Centennial Exposition, this plan is worth consideration by our various classes of manufacturers. Upon the organization of the Commission, one of the first points which demanded the attention of its members was the manner in which they could best fulfil their duty in respect to the examination of the Exhibition, and their report upon the same. A very slight acquaintance with the Exposition made it sufficiently evident that it would be w T holly useless to attempt, personally, a detailed examination of the different groups of the Austrian classification. How utterly impossible the enormous size of the Exposition rendered this undertaking, is shown by the work of the juries. Most of the important groups were subdivided among various sub-juries, so that in fact there were eighty-one actual parties who entered upon the jury-work. These juries threw themselves into their labors with the utmost energy, yet many of them were more than two months in the examination of their special groups. Another consideration with the Commission was this : that a valuable examination could only be made in the different groups of persons who were specialists, as it were, and who entered upon the work with a previous knowledge of the art. For these reasons they determined, as has been stated in the report of the Chief of this Commission, to employ so far as they could find them at hand, and as far as the appropriations *ff the State would permit, persons in the work who would answer to the description of specialists in the various departments. In addition to the reports thus engaged, the uuder- S1 gned will only call attention to some general considerations 'which the study of the Exposition suggested, and which s eem to him worthy of notice. And first, of the comparative condition of the arts in the United States and in other countries. On this point, it may be said that in all practical matters,—in machinery, in agricultural tools, perhaps in the preparation of articles of food,—in the groups from Y. to so far as matter is concerned, and not the style or 64 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. taste, including textiles, leather and rubber, metal and wood industry,—in manufacture of paper, sugar, and the thousand other useful matters,—yi our philosophical and surgical, and in musical instruments,—we appeared, or should have shown ourselves, if we had been adequately represented in this Exposition, quite on a par with any other people. In machinery of every kind, it was universally conceded that our collection, small as it was, and lacking in every direction those labor-saving inventions so familiar to us at home, but unknown abroad, was still the most original and admirable display in the machinery-hall. Among other modes of improving the opportunities of the Exposition of Paris in 1867, the British government sent, as they did also to Vienna, a commission of practical artisans, whose reports, afterwards printed, were among the most interesting and valuable of the former exhibition. As a result of their examination of American machinery, one of them made the following statement:— “ In our country we seldom go back to first principles in invention. We cling to some parts of the old arrangements. If a motion has been circular, we trj’ to make a better circular motion ; if horizontal, we try to get better results by a superior horizontal arrangement, but seldom think of throwing to one side all that has been done. The American, on the other hand, seems to look at two things—the means at his command and the end to be attained; he seldom troubles his head with the laws or the opinions of others.” Another of the same artisan commission writes, speaking of the Americans : — “ The rough-and-ready way in which they cast aside old theories, the boldness with which they start out on a new and untrodden path, the entire confidence they have in themselves, and their sagacity in finding out what is to be done and doing it—all find expression in their work. * * * Many a good thing rough-hewn by them is destined to live, and influence the future of the world.” These statements are quoted because they are very admirable illustrations of the character of our inventive talent, and because they express very forcibly what was constantly said both by REPORT OF MR. HILL. 65 English and by Germans and Austrians, respecting our mechanical exhibitions at Vienna. In respect to our display of agricultural implements, it was very strong in mowers and reapers and very weak in other directions. But in both these important machines Americans had every reason to be satisfied. The contrast between them and those of other countries was very marked. The lightness and strength, the convenience in operating, the superior workmanship, were all acknowledged, and have resulted, as we are informed, in giving to the American manufacturers nearly all the business of supplying the agricultural regions of Eastern Europe. The qualities which give these implements their superiority have given the American-made sewing-machines the same, and they are sold in Europe at much higher prices than the same styles of European manufacture. It is said that even where American companies have carried to Europe American machinery and an American foreman to oversee the work, that they are unable to produce the same quality of machines as are made in America. This can only be due to the superior character of our workmen, a superiority arising from their higher intelligence, and this again from their better education. In the opinion of the writer, the superior character of these machines to those of European manufacture is borne out by that of many other classes, which were not displayed in the Exposition. Ill many departments it is not unreasonable to believe we should have a good foreign market were our machines better known. In the great departments of Group I., mining, quarrying and ^ metallurgy, and Group II., agriculture and forestry, it was made evident to us that the leading nations of Europe have given far ftmre attention to the matter of scientific education than we havo ^one, and the exhibition of the various schools of mines, of agriculture, etc., were among the most striking and interest- mg portions of the Exposition. The pursuit of agriculture is *° us in Massachusetts, of course, of more general practical mterest than that of mining, and more attention was given to the subject, and as a result of our observations our confidence the advantages of a scientific education as a foundation for hs successful pursuit "was generally strengthened. A special re Port on this subject has been prepared, and is particularly 66 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. recommended to the attention of our citizens. In the department of forestry, most striking exhibitions were made,—the leading schools, forestry associations and departments, in a number of instances erecting large houses in the rough style of the forest buildings to illustrate this work. These were filled with specimens of the native woods, worked and unworked, of the various articles produced from the wood in the forests or in their neighborhood, samples of machinery and tools used, and especially with maps, plans, models of dams, slides, rope-tramways, and all the means of illustrating their modes of carrying on their work. With these were numerous books on the subject and many volumes of written reports, showing the details of the management. From the great attention given by the Austrians and other older nations to this branch of industry, we should do well to draw a lesson. It is believed that if the State would constitute either a special commission, or a branch of the board of agriculture, that should give particular attention to the subject of forestry, should examine the foreign modes of encouraging arboriculture and making it pecuniarily productive, and should aim at giving popular information and awakening popular interest on the subject, it would be vastly to the interest and advantage of the Commonwealth. But if in those industries which tend to the physical comfort • and convenience of mankind the United States stood as high as, and in many respects higher than, other countries, in the \ Exposition, it was far otherwise in the sphere of art, both in • its purer conditions of painting and sculpture and in its application to manufactures. In the preparation for the Exposition in this country, those gentlemen who originally had the } charge of our interests did not, with one or two exceptions, apparently command the confidence of our artists nor of our ]■ manufacturers who depend on their art or taste to give value ; to their works, sufficiently to persuade them to send their pro- * ductions to Vienna. • Moreover, a single walk through the art- l. galleries and down the great nave of the industrial palace, in f which the exhibits of the applied arts were generally assem- | . bled, would have satisfied the most doubting that if we had R done the best we could we should have still made a most de- j plorable failure in this side of the Exposition. [ REPORT OF MR. HILL. 67 In the arrangement of the exhibits, this department was made the most prominent of the whole. Passing by the art- galleries, and speaking only of the arts in their applications to industry, the whole of the great central nave of the main building was substantially devoted to this form of art. With the English, the most magnificent displays were made of porcelain, pottery gnd glass; and the cases of the Mintons, Copeland, the Worcester works and Wedgwood were splendid illustrations of the value that this nation sets upon this work. Nor were the French behind them. The porcelain of E. Colinot, Deck and Jules Harvey, of Cristofle, Barbadienne and others; sustained their ancient reputation. It is said that the English in earlier Expositions were much astonished and mortified at the inferior position in which they appeared in comparison with the French, and set themselves to work in earnest to introduce a better and higher art into this class of work. We do not think we are wrong in saying that to-day they show in this department a more varied collection of beautiful forms, a more original taste, and a better application °f the models of antiquity, and of the ideas of such nations as the Indian and the Japanese and others, than do the French. In artistic metal-work there were some admirable displays,— as those of Elkington and Hancock, in the English department, of Barbadienne and Cristofle among the French. Of the work of the latter too much cannot be said. Much of the Painting and sculpture of the French, though powerful and artistic, is morbid in its character, rioting in the horrible or the sensual; but in this metal-work of Cristofle’s, the art was °f the purest and simplest character, taking its subjects from the most common objects of nature, and working them into the ornamentation of the material with a simple grace as healthy in tone as it was artistic in character. Both English a ud French work in this department, and measurably also in that of pottery and porcelain, showed» very distinctly the mfluence of Japanese art, the merits of which they incline to adopt without taking its absurdities. In furniture, the English had some very artistic work. leir manufacturers employ some of the best artists to pre- 68 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. pare designs for them. The simplicity and beauty of these are very far removed from the heavy styles, overloaded with machine-made ornaments, which we too generally find with us. In furniture, the Austrians were, however, perhaps of all exhibitors, the strongest. Their forms were for the most part very simple, and their great effort seemed to be to bring out as strongly as possible the natural beauties of the wood. Where ornament was introduced, it was in the form of inlaying, or of hand-carving. The artistic feeling of Europe seems to have recognized the fact, that those objects alone are really beautiful which have been produced by hand-labor, and by the individual thought and taste of the artist applied to each individual ornament. A very attractive department in the Austrian section, and one to which they devoted much attention, was that of interior decoration. Many small rooms w T ere fitted up by different artists, and, without exception, the combinations of colors and effects were those of refined and cultivated tastes. One of the most interesting collections, in which artistic feeling had scope to display itself, was that of the carpets, of which there were literally hundreds in the Exposition. Undoubtedly the East, with her hand-made work, carried the day here, and of the Eastern nations the Persians were perhaps the most perfect. Equal to any in richness of effect, they surpassed in the perfect harmony of color. It is needless to say that the good feeling of all these Eastern nations leads them to avoid those glaring contrasts of color and staring patterns which are too common in our windows; and it was noticeable also that all their figures had a perfectly flat effect. The apparent projection of flowers, fruit and geometrical figures, looking as if in danger of tripping the foot at each step, is most carefully avoided. The English, and in a measure the French, showed the effects of a study of these Eastern productions, and the best work of the English certainly was in styles borrowed from them. The Austrians were still closer students of these Eastern nations, and much of their display could hardly be distinguished from its original. Of cast-metal artistic work there was an immense quantity REPORT OF MR. HILL. 69 in the Exposition, not only in bronze, but in iron. Special attention is called to this latter material, because its management has become so well understood in its application to this purpose, that it produces as clear and fine-surfaced castings as bronze, and in this way good works of art can be cheaply supplied. The rooms of the fine-art buildings, many as they were, were always filled with crowds of people. The number of visitors here was the best evidence of the general interest taken in Europe in the arts. The report which we have caused to be prepared, to present with this, will say all that is necessary on this point. These few lines have been devoted to a description of the art-manufactures exhibited at Vienna, not for the purpose of attempting to give any idea of their artistic merit, nor of their extent, but only to show how great a degree of attention is now given abroad to this form of industry. Both governments and people there are exerting themselves to extend and improve the popular taste for art, and to elevate the artistic character of their national productions. To this end they are encouraging their museums and schools of art, and the general introduction of drawing in their public schools. The influence of the Kensington Museum upon the taste and the artistic character of the English manufacturers cannot be overstated, and the wonderful advance they have made between the Paris Exposition and that of the present year, is largely due to its teachings. Among other modes of instruction, it makes appropriate collections of works of art, and sends them out into the different manufacturing districts, there to remain for several months, open to the free inspection of all who wish to study them. On the Continent, also, those interested speak in the highest terms of the influence of their museums and art-schools in improving the general taste. One of the most noticeable things about the art-manufactures m the Exposition, was the number of beautiful and characteristic objects which were bought for these different European museums. This is not the place to discuss the propriety of encourag- ln g art in comparison with merely mechanical labor, nor to 70 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. consider how far, as a nation becomes richer, it is necessary to elevate the tastes, and to furnish new and high interests to the people, if we should prevent them from degenerating into luxury and dissipation. Our State has taken its position in this matter, by introducing drawing into the public, schools, and by the encouragement of artistic study in the schools of technology ; and it only remains to push on the work as vigorously as possible. The encouragement of museums is certainly one of the most direct and effective means of so doing, and, great as is their influence in Europe, they would be much more powerful here. Indeed, something of the kind is essential to our art-education. Students and the public in Europe have the great advantage over us of living in countries where they are continually in presence of art-work. With us, who have not this inspiration, there remains only the influence of museums, as a means of cultivating an artistic taste in the community. The writer believes that with us the natural taste is better than in most European countries, and that, with proper effort, our people can be educated to take high rank as artistic producers ; and it is not impossible that when we do acquire an artistic skill, our work will be found to be more original and more beautiful than that of many people now far in advance of us in this department. Some consideration was given by the writer at Vienna to the question of the value of, Expositions—which may be considered as a species of temporary museum—as a means of developing industry, both of a practical and an artistic character. In the United States, particularly, there has been a tendency to think lightly of them. It is believed that this is a mistaken view. In respect to the international exhibitions, held in foreign countries lately, it has been felt that, as an immediate means of advertising our productions, they were of no use to us, on account of the higher range of prices prevailing in the United States. In this there is less difference than is commonly supposed ; and there is an advantage in many classes of our productions—in point of convenience, adaptability, or amount of work they will perform, or that they will endure—which would more than outweigh this difference, were their quality and character better understood abroad. REPORT OF MR. HILL. 71 Again, there is in some quarters an idea that we are so superior to other nations that we have nothing to learn from them. It is perhaps true, in regard to certain industries, that we could teach more than we could learn; but in entertaining this opinion, there is great chance that others, who are taking every advantage for educating themselves, may be passing us in the contest. In other industries—pertaining to matters of art especially—our citizens, admitting our inferiority, have undervalued the artistic side of expositions, and the value of art generally. Leaving the moral and social considerations out of view, we believe there cannot be a greater mistake, in view of material prosperity. The State, like the individual, which can add to its practical skill good taste and artistic ornament, has added another element to its means of progress in wealth and influence. So far, then, from joining in the general feeling in regard to foreign expositions, the writer believes that they can be made of very great value to us. Had our manufacturers more generally sent their productions to Vienna, it cannot be doubted that they would have been repaid, both pecuniarily and as a matter of education. While there is too much disposition with us to rest in the belief that we cannot reach foreign markets, the English, French, and above all, the Germans, are using every effort to learn the tastes and wants of other nations, and to adapt themselves to them, and are seeking every means to show what they can furnish. We, in Massachusetts, cannot now afford to let pass any opportunity for educating our producers, nor for opening new markets. The last census reports show that we are hardly holding our own with the rest of the United States in the increase of our manufacturing interests, and that some of them are in fact advancing much more rapidly than we. In former times, the rocky nature of our soil and our climatic conditions forced us into manufacturing industries, m which we acquired a skill and reputation which made it difficult for other parts of the country to % compete with us; but with the increase of wealth in other sections, the requisite * skill is there being gained for competition with us, and we 72 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. can only hold onr own by a careful encouragement of every means of keeping us up with the latest improvements, of introducing among us new departments of manufacture, especially in the direction of matters of taste and art, and finally of opening to us every possible avenue for the disposal of our manufactures, and teaching us how to adapt our wares to these new markets. We think the State has shown its disposition to do this in the encouragement of scientific schools, whence well-trained and liberally educated men will carry a new influence into our manufactories, and in the introduction of drawing into our schools in a manner which will develop in the next generation new and artistic forms of productions. But we believe that these means may be more powerfully supplemented would the Commonwealth lend its influence to the encouragement of properly conducted expositions among ourselves in other departments, as it does in agriculture. By a full comparison of our productions through the intercourse which would thus be produced among our manufacturers, by a well-dirécted effort to bring in the work of others in other parts of the United States and from abroad, and finally by getting together and setting open to the body of the people all these works of art, both pure and applied to industry, which are either not known or not appreciated by our citizens at large, we believe a stimulus could be given to industry more immediate and more powerful than in any other way. By making such an exposition a bonded warehouse, our importers and their foreign correspondents would willingly place in them many illustrations of European productions, which could be afterwards sold or returned. Passing this point, attention is also called to the Centennial Exposition of 1876. The declaration was general, especially with the Germans, that they should attend it, and if properly conducted it cannot but be a success. Besides the Europeans who will visit it, it will collect large numbers of people from South America and the West Indies, and many from Japan and the East. The Japanese have already signified their intention of making a full and imposing display of their productions. In view of these facts, the policy cannot be too strongly REPORT OF MR. HILL. 73 urged, of making an early effort for a full exhibition by the State of Massachusetts at this Exposition. Among the branches ’which 'were most thoroughly developed at Yienua was that of education. It was made a matter of great prominence by the directors of the Exposition, and the means of illustration, in buildings, material for instruction, publications, etc., were numerous. This portion of the exhibition and our place in it is passed over here, as the Special Commissioner, Mr. Philbrick, has, no doubt, fully developed it. Among other objects of the Exposition, an endeavor was made by its promoters to take advantage of the number of strangers whom they expected it to bring together to hold a series of congresses upon important international matters. Of these, that upon patents was perhaps the most important to our interests. The patent laws are at present in a very unsatisfactory condition on the Continent. Either it is almost impossible to procure a patent, or with states which grant them, the construction of the courts is such that they are practically valueless. The industrial activity of the United States, however, and the apparent influence of our patent system on invention, are beginning to have their effect; and there is a large portion of the more liberal party which desires to introduce the advantages of a good patent system. In England, also, there is a strong disposition to alter their patent laws, so as to make them more like ours. It was believed that if those of this way of thinking could organize and unite u pon a strong declaration in favor of patents as promoters of mdustry, and could prepare a simple statement of the prin- C1 ples upon which a good patent law should rest, such action would be the first, and a very large, step towards the desired iteration of their patent laws. At the request of the Director-general of the Exposition, Barou Schwarz-Senborn, who took a most lively interest in this congress, the undersigned believing that he should subserve the interest of the State in so doing, became a member °f the preparatory committee, and afterwards at the nomination of the same gentleman, was elected vice-president of the congress on the part of the United States. This body carlo ♦ 74 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. ried out its work in the most satisfactory manner, and at ite adjournment instituted a permanent committee to carry on the agitation of the matter, with authority to call another meeting when it should seem advantageous. It is reported that this congress is already producing fruit, and that both Switzerland and Belgium, at present without a patent law, are very seriously debating the necessity of establishing one, while the effect of its action is also felt in other states. If this congress should result, as there is ground to hope it will, in the establishment of a good and well administered patent law on the Continent, it will be a matter of vast advantage to our inventors and manufacturers. HAMILTON A. HILL, Associate-Commissioner for Massachusetts to Exposition at Vienna. REPORT OF MR. HILL, 75 Number of Exhibitors from the different Nations referred to in Mr. HilVs report. United States, .914 Venezuela, .... .294 Great Britain and Colonies, .1,741 Portugal, .... .433 Spain,. .2,181 France, .... .3,691 Switzerland, .1,074 Italy,. .3,735 Morocco, .... .13 Sweden, .... . • . .944 Norway, .... .152 Denmark, .... .475 Belgium, .... .550 Netherlands, .355 Germany, .... .5,789 Austria, .... .7,382 Hungary, .... .3,478 Russia, .... .1,197 Caucasus, .... .281 Greece, .... .293 Turkey, .... .5,843 Roumania, . . . . .1,470 Egypt (by Government). Tunis, “ . . . . objects, 641 Morocco, “ Persia, “ Siam, “ China, “ Japan, “ . . . . objects, 4,000 Guatemala, .... .16 Chili, Brazil, Uruguay, 222 61 76 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA Space in Square Metres allotted to each Country in the Industrial , Machinery and Agricidtural Halls . 1 COUNTRIE S. Industrial Hall. Covered Courts. Machinery Hall. Agricultural Hall. Austria,. 14,767 15,000 11,000 13,000 Germany,. 6,714 2,000 10,000 8,000 France,. 6,308 3,500 5,580 2,500 England,. 6,369 2,500 5,305 7,000 Russia,. 3,319 800 1,250 600 Hungary,. 2,972 1,000 350 7,500 Italy,. 2,972 _ 950 950 Turkey, . . * . 2,938 — _ Belgium,. 2,613 700 3,000 356 China, Siam and Japan, . 1,650 800 _ — United States,. 1,358 1,500 1,250 1,150* Switzerland,. 1,125 900 3,049 475 South America, . . 1,090 _ Egypt and Central Africa, 1,003 _ _ __ Holland,. 880 500 . 240 275 Greece,. 867 _ _ • __ Sweden and Norway, 865 — 280 260 Roumania,. 637 _ _ Spain,. 605 _ 640 Portugal,. 519 _ __ 350 Persia and Middle Asia, . 346 _ _ Tunis,. 259 _ _ Morocco,. 86 _ _ _ Denmark,. — 800 300 170 1 These measures must he taken as approximate merely. It was impossible to get reliable statements from authoritative sources. In the above table, no note is taken of separate buildings erected by various governments and individuals, except in the case of the agricultural hall of the United States. s Separate building. REPORT OF MR. KNIGHT. 77 REPORT ON TEXTILE FABRICS, RAW MATERIALS, AND MACHINERY. By HORATIO G. KNIGHT. His Excellency the governor, in his address to the two branches of the legislature, expressed a doubt whether the representation of the Commonwealth at the Vienna Exhibition would result in the great benefit that was predicted by many. He alluded to the chief causes of failure, and gave the Massachusetts Commission credit for having labored faithfully and intelligently to secure the best attainable results. It may well be questioned whether it was expedient for an V State to send out a paid commission, charged with duties that should have been well performed by United States commissioners. The Massachusetts Commissioner on behalf of industrial interests, explains the hindrances to his own success, points °ut many defects in the arrangement and organization of the Exhibition, and makes suggestions in his report which may be of much value to the State in its preparation for future e xhibitions. It is therefore more than possible that such advantages will accrue to the Commonwealth, from its representation at ) idma, as to justify the appropriation that was made for the industrial, as well as for the educational branch of the Commission. . ^ a new impulse shall be given to any one of our great industrial interests, or if our people shall be more impressed ^ith the importance of industrial and scientific education, the Dors °f the Commission will not have been in vain. The undersigned would gladly have given more time to his aties as an Associate, but for the reasons that are stated in [ enna while the Exhibition was in a state of disorder. ^ le Commissioner’s report it seemed to be useless to go to 78 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. After making a hurried survey of the whole Exhibition, which required more than one week, the time that remained— about three weeks—was mostly devoted to textile industry as there represented in various ways, upon which a brief report will now be given. Writers for the press, and others, have described the general plan and arrangement of the Exhibition, which was -in twenty-six groups, with numerous additional exhibitions. Group V. was Textile Industry and Clothing. It is said by those who had the best opportunities for observing, and it is an unquestioned fact, that never at any previous Exhibition was textile industry so prominently represented, or its importance so well shown, as at the Vienna Universal Exhibition. Never before* was there brought to- gether a series of exhibits so complete, or so significant of progress in the various branches of this industry. Its almost numberless branches .were clearly shown, and the relation between textile and other industries was distinctly expressed. . Although, in our modern civilization, it is understood that coal, iron and textile fibres range in importance in the order here mentioned, the textile industry claimed much space, and was more prominent than any other at Vienna. It was no easy task to obtain a general view of this department, as the various exhibits belonging to it were widely separated, and in several buildings. The Agricultural Halls contained a variety of raw materials, and machines for cultivating the same; there were many things in the Machinery Halls belonging to textile industry; and the great Industry Palace contained an immense and somewhat confusing collection of textile fabrics from all parts of the world, including articles of utility, of ornament, and of luxury. A careful examination of all these exhibits, and the preparation of an elaborate report thereon, would have been a labor of several months for more than one man. It would have necessitated a thorough investigation of a great variety of raw materials, to ascertain the new channels they open for manufacturing operations; the examination of numberless textile fabrics, to obtain from them evidence of mechanical progress and chemical development in this branch of man- REPORT OF MR. KNIGHT. 79 ufacture ; and the inspection of a great variety of machinery that was exhibited for preparation, spinning, weaving, braiding, dyeing, printing, ornamenting and finishing. This work has been done with more or less thoroughness, and reports of much interest and value have been or will be made by commissioners and others. A series of valuable articles on the textile industry at Vienna, have already been published in an English journal that is seen by many artisans, manufacturers and scientists in this country. The official catalogues of several countries contain important information relative to their various industries. It is believed that textile industry alone was represented at Vienna by nearly ten thousand exhibitors, if we include the exhibits of fibres, apparatus and machinery ; but without including these, the number, as shown by the catalogues, was— Eor Austria and Hungary, Germany, Erance, Switzerland, England, Italy, . Turkey, Greece, Russia, Tunis, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, about 2,500 “ 1,100 “ 750 “ 400 “ 300 “ 300 “ 300 “ 225 “ 200 “ 175 “ 150 “ 50 “ 75 Exhibits from various other countries, including the United States, would make up a total of at least 8,000 exhibitors of textile fabrics and clothing. These figures indicate the extent of this branch of the Vienna Exhibition; but its magnitude will be better appreciated when it is stated that, in many instances, a single exhibitor displayed a great variety, as well as a large quantity of goods. This was especially noticeable in the Austrian sections. The exhibits of that country alone, in eleven sec- tl ons, constituted an immense exhibition. 80 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. The exhibits of France were also in eleven sections, illustrating in their arrangement, the skill and taste for which the people of that country are distinguished. The German exhibits were well displayed in eight sections. From those countries, as well as from Switzerland, Belgium and England, there were collective exhibits of great beauty and interest, consisting of fabrics in silk, wool, cotton, flax, hemp and jute ; and clothing of all descriptions, for both sexes. No collective exhibit was more interesting than that by the silk manufacturers of Crefeld, Germany. The history of the silk industry of Crefeld is very instructive, and may well be studies by any one about to engage in that branch of manufacture. The silk manufacturers of Lyons also united in a magnificent display of their fabrics, occupying an entire court of the Palace. The Macclesfield Chamber of Commerce exhibited a beautiful "Trophy of Silk,” comprising articles peculiar to that place, furnished by nine of its manufacturers. The most celebrated manufacturers of silk, woollen, linen and dress goods, in France, Germany, Belgium and Great Britain—whose names are well known in this country— exhibited some of their choicest productions. From Oriental countries there were numerous collections of webs and tissues, chiefly the productions of manual labor according to old usages and methods, distinguished in design and coloring by native taste. These attracted much attention. There were several exhibits illustrating the processes of manufacture, the silk industry being thus most completely illustrated. In the United States department there were less than forty exhibits in Group V., and but few of these were from Massachusetts, whose manufacturers could have furnished five times forty contributions to that branch of the Exhibition. It certainly was remarkable that a State which leads all the others in the manufacture of woollen, cotton and worsted goods, as well as the manufacture of boots and shoes, contributed so little to this last and greatest Universal Exhibition. There REPORT OF MR. KNIGHT. 81 was, however, T$ut little inducement to participate in an exhibition that promised no immediate substantial returns. This branch of the United States department was too meagre, and too mean, to reflect any credit upon the country, and could only tend to convey a false impression concerning its advancement in textile industry. The exhibits of the raw textile materials were numerous, including some that are little known in this country, and but little used elsewhere. Much interest was expressed in the fibres of certain plants exhibited by Dr. Collyer in the United States department, which are said to have been cultivated with success in various countries during the last few years. In the Brazilian department there was a long fibrous textile product, extracted from the stems of a bulbous plant, resembling mohair ; also fibres from Tucum, in various degrees of treatment, some of which were similar to sheep’s wool. The United States exhibited a large collection of cotton, including beautiful samples of the Sea Island, and there w 7 as cotton from China, Eg} r pt, Syria, Southern Russia, Algeria, Central America, and several other countries. It was thought that the exhibits of cotton from Egypt, Russia and Algeria, furnished evidence of progress in the cotton- culture of those countries. The flax culture was largely represented by Germany, Austria and Great Britain. The culture of hemp was best represented by Russia,—a country that is endeavoring to produce all raw textile mate- nals for weaving. Jute was prominently represented, and has become an important material for yarns, being extensively used in carpet-weaving as a substitute for hemp. It is being applied to uew purposes, as was shown iu the Austrian, German, Dutch, -Belgian, French and English departments. There were exhibitions of wool of every description, from a h countries ; also goat’s hair from various countries. There were collections of silk, in all its varieties, from all silk-growing countries, making a very instructive exhibition. So well was this material represented, that one could there !earn more about its quality and treatment than could be ii 82 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. learned in a short time from any treatise or book. It is understood that Italy is making rapid progress in this and many other branches of industry. Our Massachusetts manufacturers are generally well acquainted with all machinery and raw materials adapted to their wants, are promptly informed of all inventions and improvements, and are not slow to adopt whatever is valuable. Some of the numerous exhibits of textile fabric machinery and apparatus will now be referred to, full descriptions and illustrations of which are easily attainable by any one desiring the same. Machinery for the cotton branch of textile industry was poorly represented. Switzerland alone showed a complete series of cotton-spinning machines, without any noteworthy improvements, by Jacob Reiter & Co., of Winterthur. Wool-washing was chemically represented by German houses, and the mechanical process by McNaught & Co., of England, who exhibited machines of improved construction. A wool-opening machine was exhibited by M. Celestin Martin,* of Verviers, Belgium, capable of working 400 pounds of wool per hour ; also a self-acting oiling-machine of simple construction, w T ith which, it is said, a single workman can oil 3,000 pounds of wool in twelve hours. Other machines were shown by the same well-known engineer. Excellent wool- combing machines were shown by Platt Brothers, of Oldham, England. Wool-carding w T as largely represented by well-known German, Belgian and English houses, some of whom claimed important improvements. The machines of M. Martin, who exhibited two systems of carding, attracted much attention. Wool-spinning was well represented ; and here again the . machines of M. Celestin Martin were conspicuous. The selfactor for carded wool, by M. Bede, of Verviers, contains interesting and original features of probable value. Much interest was manifested in the patent continuous wool- spinner, by John G. Avery, of Worcester County, Mass., which, it is claimed in his circular, "will do more and better work with one-half the number of spindles at less than half REPORT OF MR. KNIGHT. 83 the expense, occupying less than one-quarter the space than the most improved process now in use in Europe.” Flax, hemp and jute-spinning were probably best represented by Great Britain, though there were interesting exhibits from other countries. Flax-breaking machines were largely represented in the Austrian, German, and other departments. Dr. Collyer exhibited a flax-breaking and scutching machine in the American department. Machinery and apparatus belonging to the silk industry were represented by Switzerland, France, Italy, Germany and Austria; also in an interesting manner by Turkestan and Japan. There was a remarkable exhibition of machinery for working silk waste, by Theodor and Fredric Bell, engineers, at Kriens, near Lucerne; all of which is worthy of description and illustration. Great progress is being made in this comparatively new branch of industry. Caspar Honegger, of Rüti, Canton Zurich, showed the most numerous exhibits for silk-weaving. There was also interesting silk machinery from another Swiss house, that of Scheller & Berchtold, of Thalweil, near Zurich. Looms for weaving silk ribbons, with six shuttles, by F. Wahl, of Basle ; and a series of looms for various purposes and materials, by M. Kuffmaul & Son, of the same place, were deserving of notice. Among the latter was one for taffeta ribbons, with revolver- slay, and a new motion for the leaves, actuated by means of eccentrics; and one for velvet ribbons, with a crochet-slay, an( l a jacquard apparatus at its side. In-the German department there were looms for silk-weav- i Q gj by Felix Tonar, of Dülken, including one for weaving glazed silk-stuff. It is said that the works of Mr. Tonar have been started for the purpose of making the Rhenish silk industry independent of foreign manufacturers of machinery. Looms for mixed stuffs and for heavy goods were prominently represented. The new and novel apparatus for weav- , hig, by George Hodgson, of Bradford, England, is believed 10 ,J e Avorthy the attention of all interested in textile industry. He exhibited other looms, including one of the best construction, with the circular box and six shuttles. There was also a collection of looms, apparatus, etc., for the weaving process, 84 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. all of excellent workmanship, by Henry Livesey, of Green- bank, Blackburn. Escher, Wyss & Co., of Zurich, exhibited looms for weaving colored stuffs, arranged for different mountings, and to work with three, with four, and with five shuttles. Kuffmaul and Sons, of Basle, exhibited a loom for tapestry, with high warp, with a jacquard machine of 1,500 lifting wires. Conspicuous in the German department, were the looms and the tools connected with weaving, exhibited by the Sachsisehe Webstuhlfabrik (formerly Louis Schoenherr), of Chemnitz. These looms are said to be adapted for the lightest as well as for the heaviest stuffs; for the closest and for the widest arrangement of warp ; with change of weft; with or without the jacquard machine. This company was formed in 1851, and now employs about 700 workmen. The Crompton loom, in a lighter and more simple form than heretofore made, was exhibited by the Sachsisehe Maschinen Fabrik.(formerly Richard Hartmann). In the Austrian department several looms were in operation, including those of the Tannenwald Cotton Works, which appeared to be composed of all possible elements of other looms, but good, both in combination and workmanship. There was one loom in the American department, constructed and exhibited by the Star Tool Company of Providence, which has two or three interesting details, and makes 300 picks per minute. Reference will be m$de to only a few more machines, all of which, it was claimed, contained new and interesting details, namely : A warping-frame and a warp-dressing machine, by the Erste Brunner Maschinen Fabriks Gesellschaft, Briinn. A mechanical knitting-loom, by Ernst Supe, of Limbach (and here it may be mentioned, that the well-known Lamb knitting-machine, and several others, were exhibited). A covering and twisting machine, and a cord-making machine, by G. Stein, of Berlin. A singeing machine, and other machines for finishing, by the Zittauer Maschinen Fabrik und Eisengiesserei, Zittau: also a drying machine by the same company. Stretching machines, by William Birch, of Manchester, and by J. Ducommun & Co., of Mulhouse. A craping machine, by A. Kiessler, of Zittau; and a calendering REPORT OF MR. KNIGHT. 8.5 machine for woollen fabrics, by the same engineer. An eight- color perrotiue printing-machine, constructed and exhibited by C. Bialon, of Berlin. Finally, what appeared to be a remarkable machine for embroidery, by Reitmann, of St. Gall, Switzerland. Other textile fabric machinery and apparatus, of equal, or even greater importance, may have escaped the notice of the writer of this paper: whose knowledge of machinery is limited, and whose time for its examination was short. A single remark concerning the Philadelphia Exhibition. If Massachusetts is to be well represented there, she must make wise and timely preparation. The countries that made such preparation, of which England was one and Belgium another, were most successful at Vienna. While Massachusetts is greatly in advance of all the other States in respect to several important industries, reliable statistics show that she is behind four others in the silk industry, and especially in the matter of weaving. The undersigned will conclude this brief and necessarily imperfect Report on the branch of the Exhibition in which he ^as most interested and spent most time, by expressing the tope that the attention of our capitalists, and others, may be so directed to the silk manufacture, that we may at no distant day 5 occupy in this the same enviable position that we hold in other branches of the textile industry. HORATIO G. KNIGHT, Associate Commissioner for Massachusetts to Exposition at Vienna. 86 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. t SPECIAL REPORTS. Report on the Organization op International Exhibition Commissions and Juries, with Especial Reference to the Vienna Universal Exhibition of 1873 . By THOMAS C. ARCHER. From the commencement of international exhibitions nothing has been more apparent than the necessity for well- organized commissions and juries, and success has always been in accordance with the careful and judicious selection of the chief persons to perform the functions of those two branches of the management. The commissions here referred to are those which are instituted by the nations in whose territories the exhibitions are held, for the purpose of making the general arrangements, providing the necessary accommodations, and framing such regulations as will give confidence to the other nations of the world, that, in accepting their invitations to exhibit, their interests will be fairly studied and amply protected. Another kind of commission has also been found to be essential to the success of any exhibition, and its constitution is also of great, if not vital, importance ; namely, the national commissions, or commissions appointed by the various exhibiting nations, the functions of which are, to take such steps in their individual countries, as will make known to their countrymen who are interested, all the advantages likely to accrue to those who agree to exhibit ; to make the exhibitors acquainted with all the rules and regulations of the exhibition ; to secure the safe transport of the exhibits ; to adjust the space allotted, and to keep, generally, a watchful care over the interests of their countrymen in all that relates to the exhibition wherever it may be held. Regarding these two REPORT OF MR. ARCHER. 87 forms of commission as a combination to effect one main object, we may designate the former as the Local Administrative and Executive, and the latter as the Foreign Departmental, Commission. First, then, in order is the Local Administrative and Executive Commission, appointed by the government of the nation in whose territories the exhibition is to be held. Very much depends upon the wise selection of those who are to constitute this important body, for it is necessary to inspire all nations with confidence in their administration. Each nation will, of course, have its own opinions upon this point, but it would be absurdly presumptuous to attempt to lay doAvn any general rules for the selection of this, the most important body connected with an international exhibition ; there are, however, one or two points which experience has demonstrated as indisputable facts, which cannot be ignored without great risk of failure. The first of these is that there must be one irresponsible head, a Director-General, whose decision on all disputed points must be final. The necessity for this will at once be seen, when it is borne in mind that an international exhibition is an event w 7 hich, when complete, only lasts for, as a rule, six months, and, at the utmost stretch, can only be allowed about three months for previous arrangement, during which innumerable unforeseen difficulties arise. If these difficulties are left open to discussions arising from diversity of opinion, many of them would never be settled at a llj and the exhibition would represent chaos, instead of nice cider and arrangement. Hence it is necessary that the power to give a prompt decision should be vested in one head. Secondly, a carefully selected but not too numerous body of coadjutors should be chosen to help and support the chief commissioner. Of these, some should be selected for their ability to act as councillors, upon whom the chief can rely for advice and assistance in all cases of difficulty ; whilst to others departmental work should be allotted. The Vienna Imperial Eoyal Commission was fortunate in possessing the first of these requirements ; and no better Director-General could have been found on the continent of Europe than His Excellency Baron Sch^vartz-Senborn ; for not only is he a man of great administrative powers and broad views, but he had been 88 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. thoroughly trained to exhibition life. In the London Exhibition of 1862 , the nation which turned that event to the greatest commercial advantage, and which, in all respects, managed the affairs of its exhibitors best, was Austria; and those results were entirely due to the unwearying activity and admirable arrangement of the baron, then Chevalier Schwartz; and well is his genial co-operation and perfect disinterestedness remembered by those who, like the writer, had the satisfaction of working with him on that and other occasions. With his councillors, however, he had difficulties, although on the whole that part of the arrangement worked tolerably well, perhaps even better than was supposed; for, though the public tongue indulged itself in assertions of disagreements, etc., the public eye did not penetrate into its chambers, nor did the public ear hear its discussions. In the third portion of his commission Baron Schwartz was lamentably weak; he had no efficient staff of aids, to whom the separate departments could be safely allotted, and hence arose confusion, and most irritating annoyance to the exhibitors, which was increased and intensified by the efforts to carry out a complicated and impracticable classification. Everywhere amongst the officers of the commission who were intrusted with the departmental arrangements, under the Director- General, there was an almost oriental spirit of procrastination, and a want of knowledge of the value of time, which seriously impeded the completion of the exhibition, and this inertness, added to the utter inability of the railway companies to do the work they had undertaken, at one time threatened to make the exhibition a complete failure. The various national commissions, however, saved it by taking matters into their own hands, and carrying out the arrangements of their own sections as they thought best. From this a good lesson ought to be learned and acted upon in all future international exhibitions; namely, not to hamper the foreign commissioners with restrictions which cannot be complied with, and which can only result in a petty warfare and an ignominious abandonment, one by one, of all the disputed points, after the sacrifice of much precious time and temper in the discussion. Every nation will, if left alone, do its best to make its exhibits appear as effective as pos- REPORT OF MR. ARCHER. 89 sible, and, provided the general arrangements are not too complicated and unwieldly, a few general directions to each foreign commission will secure as much harmony as can be hoped for in an undertaking so vast as an international exhibition must necessarily be. It is one thing to sit down with pen, ink and paper, and with leisure for reflection, and plan the arrangement and classification of either a museum or an exhibition ; it is another, to bring together all the varied products of man’s industry, associated with all the peculiar wishes and opinions of the producers, and in a very short space of time so arrange them that they shall not only be in some sort of order, but what, after all, will always be the chief consideration, placed so as to exhibit the individual articles in the most effective manner. It follows, therefore, that the more simple the code of regulations, and the less they interfere with the individual action of the foreign commissioners, —who, as a rule, are earnest and well skilled in their work,— the better for the general management. There never has been, at any of the European great international exhibitions, any proper bureau for information to exhibitors ; and yet how much trouble might be saved, and bow greatly business might have been facilitated ! Suppose, for instance, such a department had been fully, instead of very partially, organized in the Vienna Exhibition, and it had consisted of twelve intelligent men of each of the following nationalities,—French, German, and English,—and there had been four officers placed most conveniently for the exhibitors in different parts of the exhibition or grounds, the functions of these officials being simply to receive inquiries on forms, and to transmit them to the proper authorities and see that answers were obtained in foe course and transmitted to the inquirers; these officers, a >ded by a dozen messengers, could have saved enormous trouble, time, and personal annoyance; their proper performance of their duties would have acted like a good lubricating oil, and would have made the great machine work much more smoothly than it did. There is another point of great importance in which the ■Austrian Commission signally failed. It was in regulating the daily admissions of the vast army of exhibitors and uttendants necessary to carry on the business of the Exhibi- 12 90 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. tion. It is said that no less than fifteen thousand persons had free admission daily as exhibitors, exhibitors’ assistants, foreign commissioners, their officers and attendants, the employés of the general direction, .consisting of clerks, attendants, police,- military, firemen and keepers of the roads and gardens, besides a host of other people connected with the restaurants and other matters. No general rule could be hit upon for the management of this host, and the executive seemed to think that the best way to protect itself from imposition was to keep perpetually changing the passes, and giving all the trouble possible, so as to prevent its being worth the while of any trickster to try and circumvent them ; but this was legislating for a few vagabonds, and giving endless annoyance to thousands of anxious, hard-working and honest people. Had a certain number of wicket-gates been allotted for the entrance of the holders of free passes, and picked men placed at them, in a week or two they would have become familiar with the people who had a right to pass, and no real difficulty would have been felt. So irritating was the Austrian process, that upon several occasions it was with difficulty that a general strike amongst exhibitors and their assistants was prevented. About twenty-five nations were represented in the Vienna Exposition ; and as many wicket-gates, with three attendants allotted to each, two to be in regular attendance and one to relieve the others for meals and rest, would have made the administration sufficiently secure, and would have saved money, trouble and inconvenience to a considerable extent. For nearly as many gates were open to free passes, and even a greater number of people were employed, besides the useless staff whose whole occupation was printing and changing admission tickets continually ; but there was no system, and consequently expense and trouble were incurred without any other result than extreme dissatisfaction. Mistakes of this kind, which affected the general management, multiplied of course in all the smaller branches of the arrangement and originated innumerable difficulties and disappointments which greatly militated against the realization of that satisfaction which it ought to have been the general aim of the administration to produce. - The want of reliable departmental officers forced the REPORT OF MR. ARCHER. 91 Director-General to attempt to do too much personally. Instead of being only the administrator, he tried to manage the executive also, and it was too much for him, as it ever must be for a single individual upon such occasions. The consequence was, that much was ill done, and much not done at all. The proper plan would have been to have allotted distinct duties to each of his executive staff, and to have seen that those duties were honestly and faithfully performed. The executive staff should be divided into sections, and each should report daily to the Director-General the work it has transacted, calling attention to all points of difficulty which may have arisen, and stating how such difficulties have been surmounted. This would enable the Director-General to correct mistakes before too late, or to approve, and thus guide his officers in their future operations. Assuming the building to be complete or ready for the allotment of space, the following committees, besides others suggested by local circumstances, should be organized :— First. The Committee of Installation, with whom the distribution of space rests,—a difficult and arduous duty, requiring great tact and management in order that conflicting interests may be harmonized and the amenities of the Exhibition preserved. A well organized Installation Committee would never have ^consented to that huge and ugly trophy of stone bottles, supposed to have contained Curacoa, which disfigured the grand gallery of the Vienna Exhibition in the Dutch department, and many other not much less obnoxious things. The Installation Committee, besides distributing space to foreign commissions and to home exhibitors, have a still more arduous duty in seeing that such space is not occupied so as to injure the general effects. Second. A Railway Committee, whose duty it is to see ‘that the goods delivered into the Exhibition are in good order and are instantly passed on to their proper department. The absence of such a committee in the Vienna arrangements, ought to act as a caution on all future occasions, for nothing niore imperilled the success of that Exhibition. A Railway Committee requires a large staff of attendants, some of whom should be practically acquainted with the management of depots for goods, and all should be active, well-chosen men. 92 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. Third. A Committee whose duty it should be to issue passes to exhibitors, assistants and workmen, and regulate generally the ticket and free-pass department. Fourth. The Catalogue Committee, whose duty it is to collate the forms as soon as received, classify them and get them into the printer’s hands without delay. If a concession of the printing and sale of the general catalogue is accorded to any one, care should be taken not to include in it foreign catalogues, unless under some especial proviso which protects the interests of foreign commissions aiid encourages them to print their own special catalogues, which are always the most valuable portions of the literature of any International Exhibition. The French Imperial Commission in 1867 so mismanaged this matter as to create lawsuits and suppress to a large extent this valuable source of information. The Catalogue Committee should also undertake the printing of forms and other documents required by the other departments. Without some efficient supervision much waste of time and extravagant expenditure is sure to occur in the printing of useless and inconvenient forms, and even in the wasteful production of well digested forms. Fifth. A Committee to regulate the police, the fire- brigade and the attendants and cleaners, is of course necessary, and its functions are second to none in importance. Sixth. The gardens, roads and grounds generally should have a separate Committee, upon which both men of taste and practical experience should be placed. Eighth. An Engineering Committee should undertake the arrangement of boiler-houses and other matters connected with the Machinery Department. Tenth. A Fine Art Committee is necessary to regulate the disposition of art objects with a view to secure the best and most effective placing of them ; this may be a sub-corn-* mittee of the Installation Committee ; or, if not, the two ought to act in unison, especially with regard to trophies , which, rightly placed and tastefully designed, add much to the beauty and interest of the exhibition, but otherwise, often disfigure it most seriously. Eleventh. The refreshment establishments and the musical entertainments should be under a Committee or Committees, REPORT OF MR. ARCHER. 93 and on no account ought a control over the charges to be relinquished. This cannot however be fairly retained unless the concessions to sell are made in a liberal spirit. For well- regulated refreshment rooms with moderate charges are great aids to the success of an exhibition. Twelfth. A Committee is necessary to organize and arrange the International Juries, and besides scientific knowledge, the gentlemen composing it, or at least some of them, should be good linguists, and amongst them, or the jurors for the country holding the exhibition, must be selected reporters who will, by careful reports, give an enduring value to the exhibition. Thirteenth. A competent Finance Committee is a matter of course. The organization of the Foreign Commissions rests entirely with the countries from whence they come, and it is only left to the country holding the exhibition to aid them in every possible way. Nothing that could be said under this head cau be of any use to America, where the duties of hospitality are universally understood and practised. The next important points are the jury question, and the awards; the latter especially, for we have just seen how with the best intentions badly carried out the worst results may be realized. In the Vienna Exhibition regulations, we were told that'there were to be five prize-medals : 1st, one for Progress, 2d for Merit, 3d for Good Taste, 4th for Co- operators, and, apart from this series, one for Fine Art, whether in painting, sculpture, or decorative art. Besides these there were two Diplomas,—a Diploma of Honor, the highest prize which could be awarded, and a Diploma of Honorable Mention, the lowest prize which could be awarded. Moreover, it was communicated to the juries that the first four-mentioned prizes were to be valued in the order in which they are given above, that is to say: 1st, Progress; 2d, Herit; 3d, Good Taste, and 4th, Cooperation. Hardly had the work of the juries commenced before the question arose, Can two medals be given to one person ; for instance, Prog- 1>e9s and Good Taste, Merit and Good Taste, or Good Taste Cooperation? These were very natural questions, to 94 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. which an affirmative answer would also seem a natural reply, but the answer was in the negative. This caused much excitement, and even a threat on the part of some juries to throw up their work; for they did not care to identify themselves with a process of self-stultification. Perhaps this may not appear a necessary consequence; I will, therefore, give an example :— Take, for instance, two manufacturers of Porcelain, one nearly at the top of his profession ; and it is at once obvious that he deserves a high reward, which the jury may consider does not amount to the highest; that is, the Diploma of Honor ; they, therefore, give him the Medal for Progress. Now, it must be evident to all that in such an art as his, he cannot have made progress without being a meritorious worker, and a man of good taste; but if he is only to receive the Medal for Progress, the two latter and equally important qualities are left out of sight, whilst the general public will be more likel} r to think highly of the third class medal for Good Taste than of the first, with the indefinite idea of progress attached to it. After much discussion the Council of Presidents of Juries, a deliberative body which held a position between the General Direction and the Juries, decided in favor of the jurors’ view, that one or more medals should be awarded where deserved, and that another absurd regulation, that only one Diploma of Honor, in any group, should be given to one nationality, should be rescinded. There was a tacit understanding that this was accepted by the Council of General Direction; but after all the labors of the jury based on this understanding were concluded, and the juries themselves dispersed, their decisions were altered and the old idea reverted to. Therefore, practically, the published lists of prizes do not give the true opinions of the jurors and experts. Anything more mischievous can hardly be imagined, and already many unprincipled people are taking advantage of it. Thus advertisements appear intimating that the advertiser is the only one in his class who received the medal for " Good Taste”; the public are not aware that this is the lowest prize in the form of a medal. Then others are telling the world by advertisements, circulars, and other means of deceiving, that they received the Diploma, but do not say it is merely 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- 96 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. tion, and has acquired some respect for the working of the former, but none for the latter; he is also of opinion that public opinion agrees with his own, for he has been quite unable to ascertain that even a shadow of value is attached to the certificates of admission. It is of considerable importance that the local and foreign commissions should exercise a power of selection over the exhibits, for which space is claimed from them, so that the real purposes and interests of the exhibition be not perverted to the advertisement of common and uninteresting materials. As a rule, this need only be suggested to the various Commissions, for their national pride is ordinarily sufficient to keep them from lowering the character of their nations in the eyes of the world by introducing exhibits discreditable to the general collection. On the whole, the jury regulations carried out at the Vienna Exhibition were good, but they acted badly in very many cases, owing to the mischievous system of control over their decisions, and the very indefinite nature of the prizes. The number of the jurors was, according to Eule V., regulated by the number of exhibitors in each group; no fairer plan can be devised, but the method of carrying it out had one objection. The regulation as it stood was as follows For every 10 to 100 exhibitors, . . . one juror. “ 101 to 200 “ « . two jurors. “ 201 to 300 “ . . three jurors “ 301 to 400* “ . . four jurors. And so on. Now, the fault in this arrangement is in the first line, for, as a rule, there are the fewest exhibitors of the most important things. Take, for instance, the case of Great Britain in the Vienna Exhibition : In Group 1, stone-ware, porcelain and glass, she had but thirty-six exhibitors, but amongst them there were the Mintons, the Eoyal Worcester Works, Messrs. Copeland, Wedgwood, Pillatt, Green and others, who are t quite unsurpassed in their productions ; but by this law, they and their immense interests were only represented by one juror; whilst France had three ; Germany , three ; Japan, two; Austria and Hungary , seven, and so on. Now, as it REPORT OF MR. ARCHER. 97 happened, the exhibitors all through the Exhibition were of two kinds,—those who manufactured the goods they exhibited, and those who only dealt in the goods they displayed. The latter were excluded from receiving prizes, but their numbers counted in the allotment of jurors. The evil of this arrangement must be apparent at a glance. The remedy seems to be, either to exclude all but actual manufacturers from the summation upon which the allotment is made, or to admit traders to the competition for prizes. There are many reasons why the latter should be adopted ; subject, however, to stringent regulations. One reason is, that if the promoters of international exhibitions were to depend solely upon manufacturers, they could not get up an attractive and successful exhibition. Enough experience has been obtained to assure us that this is a fact. Such being the case, it is a hardship that those who contribute so much to the success of the undertaking, should he precluded from a participation in its rewards. Had the medal for good taste at Vienna been reserved for such exhibitors, it would have given great satisfaction, and relieved the jurors of a painful duty in passing by those whose good taste in the selection of the best goods so greatly benefited the general effect of the Exhibition, and was a quality in itself ^ell entitled to recognition. In the seventh article of the Vienna regulations, it was provided that "the director-general may appoint delegates, who vdll be authorized to participate in the transactions of the Tny, and will have a deliberative voice.” This is not a good 9 r a fair regulation, unless it is limited to one delegate, because it leaves it in the hands of the director-general to swamp the decision of the juries whenever so inclined; and the Personal experiences of the writer lead him to believe that it ls a dangerous rule. It is quite right and advisable that the chief executive officer should, if he thinks proper, be present, either personally or by deputy, at all the deliberations of the juries; but beyond seeing that they are carried on in a spirit °f fairness and in accord with the regulations, he Ought to have no power to interfere. Another, and a similar mistake, exists in Rule VIII., which permits the Commissioners of Foreign States to participate hi and have a voice in the deliberations of the juries. This 13 98 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. gives to small states, whose commissioners have but little to do, the power of having an additional juror, who can go to any jury and give his vote for any purpose he may think proper; whilst another and more important commissioner, from having great occupation, can never exercise this function. This is one evil only, but another must be very apparent : no man can be an expert in all the classes of a great exhibition; therefore it is wrong to give any one the right to act where he is otherwise incompetent. The fewer the classes or groups into which an exhibition is divided, the greater will be the necessity for forming sectional juries, and this necessitates a more liberal representation than that pointed out above, in Rule V., where, in order to remedy some of the defects noticed, and especially the one most prominent, it should be arranged that twenty-five exhibitors should entitle a nation to one juror ; fifty to two jurors ; and one hundred to three jurors ; after that, one per hundred would be sufficient. The operations of the Vienna juries began on the 16th of June : that is to say, six weeks after the ceremonial of the opening took place. It was laid down as a sine qua non (Rule XIX.) that they were to terminate on the last day of July. Practically, they only finished a day or two before the announcement of the prizes, on the 18th of August. Experience has shown that the sooner the labors of the juries are begun and finished, the better, because, to the exhibitors who have been so fortunate as to obtain the prizes, it is of the greatest importance that they shall have the longest time possible to benefit by the publicity which the Exhibition gives. Therefore the jury work ought not to begin later than one month after the opening day, and should not be allowed to exceed six weeks’ time. Whatever prizes are offered in an International Exhibition, their relative values ought to be strictly defined and adhered to. This certainly was not the case at the Vienna Exhibition. An attempt was made to define them in Rule XXII., and the juries gave their awards accordingly, and where an exhibitor showed progress and good taste they awarded him the two medals, and thus in the same way for meritorious work combined with good taste, they gave the medal for Merit and REPORT OF MR. ARCHER. 99 Good Taste; but these double awards were nearly all disallowed by the supreme direction; and when the absurdity of the position thus created* became apparent, then it was gazetted that all the medals had equal value. Thus, to a very large extent, the work of the juries was superseded, and that which remained was made ridiculous in the extreme; for what could be more absurd than to give to tw T o exhibitors of first and third class merit prizes of equal value ? These mistakes mostly arose from a desire to have entire control over everything connected with the Exhibition, even to the deliberations of the jury, or judges as they wo'uld be more properly called; and from want of firmness to adhere, against pressure, to even- the good points in the regulations. They caused great dissatisfaction, and we may fairly hope that they will be corrected in any future exhibition. THOMAS C. ARCHER, F.R.S.E., E.S.A.S., E.B.S.E., Director of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art, President of the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, Corresponding Member of the Ministry of Crown Domains, Russia, $c., §c. 100 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. MUSEUMS OF AFT AND INDUSTRY .-THEIR INFLUENCE AND ORGANIZATION. By LOUIS J. HINTON. Group XXII. Baron Schwarz-Senborn, the conceiving as well as the directing mind of the Vienna Exhibition, announced, early in the progress of preparing for that enterprise, that one of the most important, if not the chief, feature of the undertaking, would be the illustrating of the progress of education the world over;—the various methods and appliances for teaching in use in the different countries of the civilized world. Museums of Art and Science were, of course, to find a place in this display. Their value as educational agencies has been too clearly demonstrated in states where they have been established to admit of leaving them out of the Exhibition. It was thought advisable to form a separate group of their exhibit. This action was not, perhaps, the best that could have been taken, if the object was to show the means by which the public taste is elevated, and how such institutions are enabled to bring a practical influence to bear upon industry. The Museums are only a part of a system or systems that have their root in the common schools; hence, to gather a clear idea of their work, it is necessary to go behind or below them, into the schools where drawing is taught, and other technical knowledge imparted, in order to make a thorough study from the beginning, and so on up to the Museums themselves, before a clear idea can be gained lioW the known results, existing to-day in industrial art-training, are reached. By this arrangement of one-half of the subject- matter in one group and the other half in another, it was made a difficult undertaking to describe exactly what was shown at Vienna. It is impossible to confine the delineation to either group without marring the usefulness of what information could be collected. To simplify the complex, however desirable, is REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 101 not always so easy that the Austrian Direction need be blamed for failing to exhaust the whole subject of the influence of Art antUIndustrial Museums upon public taste and industry, as their first circular relating to this subject would have led its readers to believe they intended to do, if it were possible of accomplishment. What they did achieve was certainly deserving of the highest commendation. What they will yet do, after the hurly-burly rush and hurry of the Exhibition is over, will, it is to be hoped, serve to further elucidate the value or defects of this important factor in education. There can be but little doubt but that the gentlemen who will have the task assigned them by the Austrian government of making up the official report on Group XXII. will compile from the statistics and detailed information furnished them from many sources a most valuable and interesting document. This must be waited for with patience, as such reports do not usually appear until a lapse of six or twelve months after the close of the exhibition that has called them into* being. The fact is to be regretted, for such official data would be extremely valuable in this or any other report dealing with the same subject. One official document can be given—that referred to above, as it preceded the Exhibition and endeavored to convey, in a rapidly sketched outline, what the Austrian Direction desired might be done. This was "Special Programme, No. 12, for Group XXII.” This paper is in itself an evidence of the deeply-rooted bold Art and Industrial Museums and art-teaching, as applied In industry, have taken in Austria ; and, having been written, if is thought, by Herr Jacob Falke, the acting head of the Vienna Museum,*it may be taken as the utterance of one who is no mean authority on the subject whereof he writes. This special programme runs as follows, omitting the excess °f title that prefaces it:— “ Among the instructive establishments of our time which have most rapidly proved to be of great utility, the Museums of Fine Arts applied to Industry must certainly be included, and almost every city of importance possesses such an institution. This fact alone would suffice to justify the attempt we will make to show their organization and influence. 102 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. “ These institutions stand, as well by the object they have in view as by the results they obtain, between real life and abstract theories ; they are the mediators between the past and the future of the development of Fine Arts applied to Industry. Tli^ eminent position taken by modern industrial art for the last few 3 T ears, furnishes the best proof of the justness of the remark made above. “ It may certainly satisfy and rejoice professional men to see the careful manipulation of different raw materials, and the use made of machines ingeniously constructed; but if a more elevated taste was not combined with the technical process in the execution or ornamentation of these products, one could hardly say that industry is improving. “ One of the most remarkable improvements made by industry dates back from the time when the idea first occurred to collect carefully together the rich treasures of former centuries, which had remained so long unused, to make model collections of them, to take up again and to organize the progress made by our industrious ancestors in some branches of industrial art, and in those objects produced by manual skill. “ The technical skill with which any object is manufactured is not sufficient to produce an object answering the exigencies of a connoisseur. An intelligent appreciation of the task to be fulfilled, the right feeling of the most suitable form; in short, taste in the invention and execution of each article, has become an indispensable quality for industrial production, and it alone raises the object manufactured to the rank of a work of industrial art, i. e., an object not only useful but also satisfying the requirements of good taste. “ Most of the industrial schools and institutions for promoting the study of Fine Arts applied to Industry, which under the direction of experienced connoisseurs fight every day with greater success against the old methods of proceeding and unthinking routine, owe their foundation to the acknowledgment of these truths. “ Still the creation of Museums of Fine Art applied to Industry, of those treasures of the history of art, are still more the consequence of the right feeling of the ennobling influence of art upon industry. It is from this point of view that the merits of the Museums of Fine Art applied to Industry of Paris, London, Edinburgh, Moscow, Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Weimar, Gotha, Limoges, Lyons, etc., just as richly endowed as they are generally useful to all, must be appreciated. “ After these come those museums, which, although not directly promoting Fine Art and Industrial Art, have‘indirectly the same object, by pursuing a scientific or statistical object. These institutions are also the result of modern efforts toward civilization ; as, for REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 103 • • instance, the German Museum at Nuremberg, the Romano-German Museum at Mayence, the Museum Richartz at Cologne, the museums at Havre, Amiens, Toulouse, etc. “ It is not necessary to enter into more particulars, to prove the great utility of these creations of modern times for the wants of our generation: the great number of visitors, the extended use made of them, and the influence they exercise upon modern industry, which is easy to remark, are matters of fact which every professional man acknowledges with pleasure. ' “ These museurps attain their purpose by different methods. Firstly, by their collections, which are arranged with precaution and discrimination, and which procure as much to the eye of the connoisseur as to the unprofessional man, a really contemplative lesson. Only instructive and most perfect objects find room in their chests and on their walls. There, one can pursue historically gradual development and progress in the production of every sort of article, and an attentive spectator is enabled to follow the laws of industrial progress in the direction mentioned. There is no room for vain pomp in those establishments, where everything has as its aim, to show how the value of every single article can gain by a tasteful transformation, which, far from prejudicing its sale, augments it. “ Secondly, those museums exercise a very beneficial influence on the schools of Fine Arts applied to Industry, which are combined with them. The living word is found on the inanimate object, and the explanation on the model. The teachers engaged here explain to their scholars all those important qualities which every production of industry, even that destined for every day’s use, must possess, in order to answer the exigencies of taste. The scholars learn, therefore, to appreciate the value of a certain simplicity, to understand and make use of the laws of the style of symmetry, and thus become those men who, later on, furnish the market with artistic objects, f e., with such objects as are remarkable for their utility and moderate ornamentation. “ All the useful methods employed by the museums of Fine Arts applied to Industry to exercise their influence, are to be exhibited and demonstrated for the first time to the public in this group, and m such a manner that every museum will be allowed to organize its °wn exhibition in the manner the president of the institution may fhink best fitted to have it worthily represented, at the Universal Exhibition. Still, in order that the whole exhibition of this group ttmy be as complete and instructive as possible, it would be as much conformable to the purpose as desirable, that each single institution should previously communicate in which branch it more particu- EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. • 104 larly wishes to exhibit. Should this proposition be favorably accepted, each artist and industrial workman will find enough to inspire him in his branch; and, to mention only one thing particularly, modern ornamentation will become richer in new models of design. “ But, in order to prove to the public the practical influence of these institutions, it is indispensable that the publications of each single museum should be exhibited in samples and in single numbers ; by this, we mean, more especially the reproductions—plaster casts, galvanaplastic impressions, photographs—and the artistic literary publications of the museums. Concerning the former, they must be confined, not only because of the space, to these works of art, the originals of which are in the possession of the country exhibiting. As to the latter, we cannot sufficiently express the desire to see them exhibited in collections as complete as possible. “ Finally, the museums are requested to give exact statistical statements of the number of visitors to their institutions, of the organization of their schools, etc., in order to furnish materials for the statistics of the museums of Fine Art applied to Industry. “ Signed by the President of the Imperial Commission: Arch- Duke Regnier; and the Chief Manager, Baron Schwarz-Senborn. December 10, 1871.” It was a perfectly feasible idea, and one easy to execute, to show the official arrangement of the different institutions mentioned in the programme, and to exhibit a collection of the objects belonging to the museums of Art as applied to Industry. Any of the museums mentioned above, that at Edinburgh, for instance, might, through its president, have sent a detailed statement of when the institution was founded and opened to the public, the amount of its endowment, i^s size, number of rooms or galleries, a list of their contents, estimated value of the collection, number of visitors each year, etc., and w T e should be but a very little nearer to a clear or precise knowledge of the effect produced by the museum upon the people of Edinburgh. It is clear that such information, so desirable 1 to attain, must be sought for outside, and not within the museum, even if it be possible to glean it at all. We can all fan<^ the immense influence the classical works • of our language have had and still exert upon the English- speaking race. There is no one among us who can measure its extent; but we might imagine our loss, if we were to be REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 105 deprived of our Shakspeare, our Milton, and all the other bright stars in the galaxy of literature. So it is with the museums of Arts as applied to Industry. They are silent instructors, with no record other than so many visitors in so many years. The schools of arts generally attached to the museums stand upon a different footing, as it is possible to keep some account of the work they perform. The author of the special programe clearly saw the difficulty with respect to the museums. Although he forbore to enlarge upon that theme, he clearly indicated how desirable it would be if such information as to the extent and reach of the influence of museums of Arts as applied to Industry could be given. This is still unknown, except as it can be gathered from the opinions of those best entitled to speak upon the subject, and we believe no attempt was made to show its extent, by any of the states which have found their profit in establishing centres of instruction in the Fine Arts as applied to Industry. The Austrians certainly did not attempt to show, in a direct way, how they had been and are still benefited by their beautiful museum. The endeavor will be made, ere this Report is closed, to state how they did show’, indirectly, somewhat of the profits reaped by them, in payment of their enlightened encouragement extended to the Fine Arts and to Industry. The managers of the Vienna Museum of Art and Industry would, in all probability, have made a fuller exhibit of the scope and object of their institution, if it had not been for some disagreement, or dispute, as to the proper space they should occupy in the exhibition, which occurred, it is believed, between them and the Chief Manager. Their energy was thus circumscribed and turned into other channels; as, for 1 »stance, helping to arrange the different sections of the Austrian Department to the best advantage. Thus, in the court where the Bohemian cut-glass w T are was shown, Herr Loley- ttieyer, the chief manufacturer, was in constant communication with the museum authorities, consulting with them as to what was best to do. The results of their joint labor looked like a fairy scene, and produced one of the most interesting u 106 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. displays in the Austrian section, if not in the whole Exhibition building. It must also be borne in mind that the Museum of Fine Arts, as applied to industry, had been, and is still a power among the Bohemian glass-workers; local museums having been formed, whose contents are so arranged as to bear directly upon the industry of the place w T here they are established. The Viennese Museum supplied many models, w'hile the neighboring gentry and manufacturers were solicited to give or loan such objects of interest as they had and could spare, bearing upon the business sought to be improved. Lectures are also given, and books, written to teach the principles of Art Taste, as applied to Industry, circulate in the district. The schools also form a source from w r hence are drawn new supplies of Art workmen. These various means and aims of the Art Museum have certainly improved the value of this special product of Bohemia, one of the most beautiful Art-industries known. Herr Loleymeyer has helped to advance the whole district —as oftentimes one wide-minded manufacturer will do—by his early recognition of the value of Museums of Art and Science, and his hearty practical cooperation w r ith the Museum authorities. Here, then, is one instance of the direct influence of the Gewerbe museums; and although the fact is not announced, or to be found, in the display made in Group XXII., it is none the less real. This instance stands not alone. Any one who visited the Vienna Exhibition during the past summer or fall, will remember the large hall leading from the southern entrance to the great Rotunda, entirely occupied by one manufacturing firm—Philip Haas & Son—with specimens of the carpets, rich hangings and chamber-suites, for which the firm is rapidly becoming famous. This hall was arranged and fitted up entirely from the designs and under the direction of the professors and pupils of the School of Arts. It is also a fact that carpet-weaving and its associated industries, at Vienna, have drawn much valuable information from the models and drawings, bearing upon this handicraft? collected within the walls of the new Museum, not to mention their influence in the improvement of the workmen. REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 107 There were many similar instances scattered through the whole Austrian Section. Indeed it would be hard to find a single handicraft, where taste is needed, that had not been benefited, directly or indirectly, by this influence. These are practical illustrations of good effected, that can be appreciated by any one who understands that an improvement in industrial art means an improvement in the community and an increase of the value of the work performed. To give even a brief resume of the models, etc., exhibited by the Vienna Museum in Group XXII., would be to turn this Report into something very like a catalogue. The literary Art publications, either written by members of the faculty or under the direct encouragement of the Museum authorities, occupy the first place on the list. The writing and spreading abroad of works upon the Application of Art to Industry, upon Taste, upon Study, and kindred themes, is one among the many useful labors performed fiy the Museum of Arts applied to Industry. These works numbered thirty-five. There were, also, nearly four hundred gypsum models, beside galvanaplastic impressions, photographs and specimen copies of students’ work. The Vienna Museum may be said to be one result of the influence of the idea that gave rise to the South Kensington Museum. Herr Jacob Falke, keeper of the Austrian Museum of Art and Industry, in his History of Modern haste (Geschichte d£s Modernen Geschmacks), writes as follows on this point:— “ When the works of industry of all nations were brought together at the first London Exhibition, in 1851, the deplorable state of taste was made palpable to the perception of all those who would and could see. .'.... There was only one nation wise enough to take to heart so important a lesson, and proceed a t once to turn it to account—the English.A Museum of Art Industry, that of South Kensington, was then founded.* This Museum, therefore, must be considered as a result °f the experiences made at the first International Exhibition. It has now become celebrated through all countries. It was not % * This is not quite correct, as the Museum was first established in Marlborough ouse, now the residence of the Prince of Wales. 108 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. intended for the benefit of the artist alone, hut for that of the general public as well. But matters did not rest with the creation of the South Kensington Museum. A large School of Art, comprising all branches of elementary Art instruction, was established in connection with it. Since great artists , nowadays , do not make designs for man ufacturers as they once did , it was found necessary to educate technical designers, painters and sculptors, and to make them into accomplished artists, and to educate teachers competent to conduct schools of design in an artistic spirit. Moreover, drawing schools were established in all the manufacturing towns ; circulating collections of objects for exhibition were organized, and competitive examinations and distributions of prizes established. Competent persons were sent out to give lectures on all subjects relative to Art manufacture; a whole branch of literature on this province of Art was called into existence ; in short, a stir was made in every direction in which any practical result was to be hoped for. These efforts have been crowned with success, and it has been proved that something could be achieved in this new way. After the lapse of eleven years, at the second London Exhibition (1862) it became evident that England, which, till then, had been considered as taking the lowest rank in matters of taste, stood side by side with France, in an equally high position in these respects. .Austria was the first among the continental States to turn to profit the example, even before France had begun to make new efforts, and in May, 1864, a Museum was established at Vienna after the model of that of South Kensington—the Austrian Museum of Art and Industry.” The italics are not in the original. Herr Jacob Falke here indicates the great want of the age—the need of men who are really artists and sculptors, to step down from the pedestals upon which they have elevated themselves, and mingle a little more amid the work of the world, as did the great men of old. Grinley Gibbon, or Flaxman, did not injure themselves, or lessen their after fame one iota, but on the contrary they increased it, by exercising the powers God had given them, the first-named at Saint Paul’s Cathedral, where he was the guide and inspiration of a crowd of carvers and artisans, the latter, working for Josiah Wedgwood designing cups and saucers, etc., for common use, in accordance with the rules of art and classic taste ; not to mention the host of other great REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 109 men, long departed, who despised nothing in industry that could be made artistic. The museums of Art and Industry will have performed a great work, if they do nothing more than cause a change in this respect, as there are signs that they have been able to do, not thoroughly as yet, but they have made a beginning. It is no longer a rarity to find men who have acquired a reputation for their art-work, designing, quietly and unobtrusively, furniture, plate, wrought-iron gates, carvings for stone and wood-workers, carpets, majolica ware, etc., both in England and on the continent of Europe. The rank and file of labor need commanders who shall be not alone bent on conceiving great projects. Let a man come among them who can shape out great things, and he will make small things great also, if he is in earnest and loves the work ; especially, as is now the case in most of the leading countries in Europe, if the rank and file have had a knowledge of art imparted to them to prepare them for their life’s work. Another fact has been demonstrated so plainly that it is now generally admitted as a truism, by the efforts put forth during the last fifty years to elevate the masses; i. e., "Those who can be taught to write can learn to draw.” This fact established destroys the awe that has so long hedged in the Fine Arts, and is another contribution of the nineteenth century to the freedom of mankind. Thus kid-glove artists, who have withdrawn from the company of artisans and manufacturers, have conferred an incalculable benefit upon the world at large, in forcing upon it the conviction that all of God’s gifts are universal, if not allowed to perish from neglect, or ^norance of their existence. So, if these artists have become so refined as to fear that the dust of the workshop may soil their fair, white hands, the workers will take up the task, and in the endeavor to elevate their own powers and taste will elevate the whole community. This is peculiarly in a line with the spirit of American growth. It is from the bottom that we work upward to the top. Wo may hope to develop a grand school of American Art when we have made the whole people familiar with its principles ; precisely as we formed* great men in politics, in war, and work, by making the Whole nation feel profoundly. This accomplished, the cap- 110 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. tain steps forward, his lieutenants are ready to help him, and an army is at hand, almost as great as himself, and without whom he would be powerless to carry out the ideas he conceives for his country’s good. However galling it may be to our feelings, we must admit that in many things the people of Europe are ahead of us, as we surpass them in others. The Vienna Exposition showed that we are, at least, behind in the matter of education—not that imparted in our common schools and colleges, for as far as they extend they are unsurpassed in their teaching ; but the education that makes fairly-rounded men and women, not one-sided individuals, who, when they really enter life have to unlearn much and learn more ere their labors are of any account. We have a broad basis to build upon, yet it is not so broad or so comprehensive a system as that established by Austria for her subjects.. Like her German neighbors, she recognizes the fact that there is no royal or easy road to learning ; hence she begins low down, the school law framed in 1869 marking her "new departure.” Mr. Lytton, an attaché of the British Legation at Vienna writes of this law :— “ One of the greatest benefits conferred upon the working classes of Austria is the General School Code of the 14th May, 1869, which renders national education compulsory, and greatly elevates the standard of it. In accordance with this law, compulsory attendance at school begins with every child at the age of six, and is continued uninterruptedly to the age of fourteen. But even then (that is to sa}’, at the end of his fourteenth year) the child is only allowed to leave school on production of certified proof that he has thoroughly acquired the full amount of information which this great law fixes as the sine qua non minimum of education for every Austrian citizen. “ The prescribed educational course comprises reading, writing and arithmetic; history—chiefly although not exclusively that of the native country, embracing the political constitution and general social structure of it ; geography in the same sense ; all the more important branches of physical science, geometry, geometrical and free-hand drawing, singing, athletic exercise. . “ Children employed in large factories or prevented by special circumstances from attending the communal school, may complete or continue their education at any special school supported by their REPORT OF MR. HINTON. Ill employers, and the employers are authorized to found schools for that purpose. But it is an absolute condition that all such schools shall provide the full amount and quality of education required by law, and otherwise fulfil all »the obligations prescribed by the General School Code. Every school, whether private or public, is subject to the inspection of the state. In places where a special trade-school exists, the employer is bound to send his apprentices to it. “In addition to the subjects of instruction above enumerated, every child is simultaneously provided religious instruction in the creed in which he or she is born. The local ecclesiastical authorities or notables of the church or religious community to which each child belongs, are entitled, and indeed bound by law to provide competent teachers for this purpose; but this religious instruction, which is altogether denominational, and on a footing of impartial equality for all sects, is kept by the state carefully apart from the secular education, which is in every case obligatory, and with which it is, in no case, allowed to interfere.” These primary schools are of three grades, respectively of three, four and six classes. The course of instruction in primary schools of four classes, is extended in one direction into the Gymnasia, and in the other into the Real or Practical Schools. On the Gymnasia rests the University, and* all tlie special schools in which language and its associated culture predominates. On the Real or Practical Schools rest the Polytechnic Institute, and all the special schools in which mathematics and the natural sciences are taught, in connection with the great industries of the nation. But all the scholars cannot reach the Universities or the Bolytechnic Institute. The majority are needed for workmen. As is indicated in the General School Code, it is possible for the young artisan to pursue a course of studies adapted to his wants, and fitted to help him on further yet, if there be the right stuff in him. The further instruction of lads after leaving school and entering into apprenticeship, is carried on with the assistance and special inspection of Chambers of Commerce and local associations of tradesmen. The instruction is given on Sundays and holidays—except high feasts—and in the morning and evening of other -days. It is not confined to a review of the rudimentary studies, but 18 extended to higher arithmetical calculations, book-keeping, 112 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. bank dealings, business correspondence and forms, natural history, and particularly to drawing. A record of attendance is kept and delinquent parents» and employers are lined, and proprietors of large establishments are subject to arrest and imprisonment for persistent neglect in respect to their apprentices and other juvenile operatives. The special schools are open to artisans, whether apprentices or not, if they want to avail themselves of their help. The Museum of Arts as applied to Industry, as its name implies, is part of this system of thorough education. To borrow from one of the Museum’s published works :—" The object is to furnish material by which Art-knowledge shall be applied to industry, and thus produce an elevated taste, which is so much to be desired at the present day.” A brief resume of the growth of this institution may perhaps prove interesting, as Massachusetts is treading in the same path as Austria. The chief impetus to the formation of the Museum was given by the London Exhibition of 1862. It will be seen, further on, why this Exhibition proved so interesting to the people of Germany, Austria and France. The Exposition of ^851 had agitated the question, but in 1855 the roar of cannon from the Black Sea prevented any active result. In 1862, public attention was again aroused by Professor Rudolph Von Eitelberger, who had been sent to England to report on the comparison of Austrian industry with that of other nations. He gave a glowing account of Art in foreign lands, and the institutions for its promotion, especially speaking of the South Kensington Museum at London. The report was laid before the Emperor, and in the fall of 1862 the professor was notified to prepare for assisting in establishing a Museum. The want of funds in the treasury was a great hindrance to doing anything at public expense. Finally, Duke Regnier obtained from the Emperor a formal permission to found an " Aesterreiehischen Museum fiir Kunst und Industry.” His Majesty (Francis Joseph) appointed the Arch-Duke Regnier as Protector of the Museum. Professor Eitelberger was appointed Director, and Herr Jacob Falke, Custodian. The REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 113 Imperial Ball House was lent for a temporary abiding place for the Museum, and it was opened May 31, 1864. By the gifts of the Court and State the Museum was rapidly increased, and many collections were procured. The need of a special building for the Museum was more and more apparent. On February 7, 1867, a deputation of curators waited on the Emperor, and asked to be allowed to proceed with the erection of a permanent Museum. The permission was given, and in the fall of the same year the plans of Architect Heinrich Ritter von Ferstel were submitted and approved. The building was completed November, 1871, and was then opened. It is in the Italian Renaissance style. The exterior walls are of red brick, trimmed with sandstone. Portraits of artist celebrities, executed in majolica, are placed around the building- Entering, we go through the vestibule, where are two tablets, commemorating the foundation of the Museum and the Art-School, from which a door on the right leads into a closed court; on the left are the steps leading to the school floor. Vestibule, court and stairs are adorned with appropriate ornaments. The square court, extending the entire height of the building, is surrounded by arcades, supported hy pillars and monoliths. Light comes through a double glass roof. Around the court are eight exhibition halls. The Museum comprises collections of objects in all branches of Art and Industry; gypsum figures, a library, drawings, ornamental pieces, photographs, etc. Companies and private persons, besides artists and industrial workers, can exhibit their work in a hall reserved for that purpose. Admission to the Museum is free four days in the week. Tuesdays and Wednesdays a small fee is charged, and even then artists are admitted free. The library is open weekdays from nine to two, and Sundays from nine to one. During the winter months it is also open Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. On Mondays one-half of the collection ls closed for cleaning. Articles exhibited are copied for the drawing department by photographs, photo-lithographs, gal- anaplastic impressions or gypsum. Protographic reproductions and the gypsum processes are wrought out in the a telier of the Museum. Copies of these can be obtained 15 114 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. from the authorities at cost price, for the use of similar institutions or technical schools. For the elevation of the public taste, the Museum publishes a literary-artistic paper. This contains drawings of Art- models, articles on the theory and history of Art, reform, taste, etc., critical reviews of articles exhibited, and writings on the technology of Art. "The Monthly Mittheilungen” is devoted to special reviews of Art news, inventions, works on exhibition in the Museum, and answers to correspondents. The Museum has correspondents in all the four quarters of the globe. During the winter free public lectures are held on Thursdays, with subjects taken from Art and applied to natural philosophy, industry, etc. Beside these lectures there are courses for young artists, to instruct them in special branches, as drawing perspective, the architectural orders, photography and technical Art. The lectures to the public are given from a different stand* point than that adopted by many of our lecturers on Art and ift technics. In Vienna the lecturer aims to show the young aspirant how to make a beginning, and how to progress upward yi the study of the Fine Arts; while here, lecturers w 7 ho attempt to discourse upon Art and Artists, generally strive to show how impossible it is for any one to reach the height attained by the masters of old, thus chilling the awak- * ening enthusiasm of their hearers, among whom, perhaps, may be some who would have liked to make an effort to acquire Art-skill and knowledge for themselves. But to return to the Museum. For the benefit of the country at large, special exhibitions are given in towns outside of Vienna, on the plan adopted by »South Kensington. -Besides, the Museum gives advice to artists and manufacturers, and even furnishes models. It takes an interest in improving Art matters in technical schools, and is looked to for counsel by all institutions of learning. The Museum is under the Ministry of Education. H s Government consists of Protector, Curators—whose term of office is three years—and Director, with whom lies the entire charge. Under the Director are four Custodians, REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 115 two of whom are in the Art-galleries, one in the library, and one employed as Secretary. The following Table shows the number of persons recorded as having visited the Museum since it was opened :— 1864, . . 56,891 persons. 1865, . 118,438 U 1866, . 101,733 u 1867, 118,802 u 1868, . 102,460 u 1869, 97,680 u 1870, 87,892 u 1871, ( 52,927 “t • \ 42,746 u + + 1872, . . 129,441 a Total, . . 909,010 persons Soon after the opening of the Museum in 1864, the Board of Trade and Industries, of Lower Austria, asked of the State’s Ministry that an industrial school be started in connection with it. This request was warmly supported by the country. On the 18th of February, 1865, the Council of Education ordained that a higher school of Art-Industry should be established in connection with the Museum. A committee was appointed to draw up a code. Little was done the first year, besides familiarizing the pupils with the regulations. The artistic education of scholars was so limited, that about half the entire number admitted, or 24 • out of 50, were obliged to enter the Preparatory Department. One great trouble was the lack of funds on the part of Pupils. In 1869, a number of friends of the institution formed a " Society for the Advancement of the Art-School,” 'whose object is to aid needy students, by distribution of school money, travelling expenses, etc., without distinction in regard to nationality, religion, or anything else. The Emperor is Chief of this Society. During the first four years of its existence, about one thousand dollars were gathered for a fund, and over six thousand for yearly expenses. In 1869, the Trade Ministry set apart six thousand 16 First six months. + Temporary building. + New building. 116 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. florins as two years’ pay for ten students, and renewed the same in 1871. To this were added twenty thousand florins given by Baron Louis von Haber-Linsberg, for students of Lower Austria. Prince Schwarzenberg gave a capital of one thousand florins ($500) to be used for the support of a pupil born on his domain. These are not all the donations the school has received, but they are the principal sums given to help the students. Many manufacturers and friends subscribed smaller sums. Apropos of donations, a compliment was paid to America by one of Vienna’s able professor#: "Ah, we want a few men such as you have so many of, who would donate us a sum that would place us at once in a position to achieve the much larger amount of good results we could attain, had we some such generous friend. The sums given by Peter Cooper, Ezra Cornell, Mr. Peabody, Commodore Vanderbilt, and a host of other gentlemen, to help on the cause of education, amaze us, not to mention the enormous grants of land made by your Congress for the same purpose.” One can hardly doubt, after observing what they have done, with what, in this country, would be considered very limited means, that had they but half the money so freely poured out for the cause of education here, they would achieve astonishing results, working as they do, upon strictly economical and practical systems, wasting nothing, and utilizing every force and help that converge to form the real, able, skilful and tasteful worker, whether he be an architect or mason, professor of languages or teacher in an infant school; whether he be the inventor of a steam-engine or the man to run it; whether he be the designer of the patterns for rich carpets or the man to weave them; whether he be the skilled forester or the woodman who fells the tree; and so on, through every profession and every handicraft. Perhaps, on the other hand, if they had the grand resources of this country to draw upon, instead of having to be keenly alive to the value of every cent they can earn, they would be moulded into free, pushing, go-ahead people, lavishly careless of that of which they now show themselves to be so minutely careful,—the intellect of the nation. It is most certain that they have a very practical method REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 117 of training all within the confines of the state. No matter how successful or unsuccessful their efforts toward that end may be, the method is sound. As, for instance : at the Art-School, where the term begins in October and ends in July, pupils who attend the lectures contend for a prize at the end of each year. Female students have the same rights as the males. The admission fee to the Art-School is one dollar; tuition fees for the preparatory school, two dollars and fifty cents ; for the higher school, four dollars and fifty cents, half-yearly. There are ten professors, who have brought to them all the work they can perform. This is a point worth noting. The method of teaching involves practical work. It is no mere copying, but the real thing itself, at which the students can work with the professors. It would also seem to indicate that the school is a success, that their labor is in such demand as it is, by the manufacturers of Vienna. The School and Museum aim to improve and elevate public taste. Although the most recent they are not the only institutions founded in Vienna for a somewhat similar purpose, and therefore care must be taken not to ascribe to the Museum alone results only partly brought about by its agencies. Technical, scientific education it does not attempt to touch ; yet the imparting of this involves oftentimes the teaching of a right taste and feeling for the beautiful. ' There is no need for the Art and Industry Museum to stir m this matter, as very ample provision has been made to meet the needs of the whole country in this respect. Technical instruction is of very long standing in Austria. At the beginning of the present century, three important schools 'Were in operation, and others were instituted, long before the neighboring German States had moved in this direction. The Polytechnic Institution in Vienna, as organized in 1815, was the culmination of efforts begun in 1765, to shape the instruction of schools to meet the special wants of pupils m their future mechanical or commercial occupations. It is °ne of the best equipped schools of its class in Europe. If it Were combined with the Art Museum and School, it would stand next to the Science and Art Department at South Kensington, at present the largest centralized institution of its 118 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. kind in existence, with the tendency to still further extend its power. There has been some talk lately in England of placing the British Museum under the same direction. This proposition is not very favorably received by the English people, who are not all satisfied as to the ability of the managers of South Kensington to get all the good from what they at present control. At the Vienna Polytechnic Institute, there is a technological museum, the contents of which comprise more than 200,000 specimens of models, machines, etc., beautifully arranged. The whole Institute numbers about sixty professors, librarians and superintendents of the museum and astronomical observatory. It has an average attendance of five hundred pupils, distributed into four special schools or divisions, besides a mathematical course. These are : 1. Civil engineering. 2. O O Architecture and construction. 3. Machinery and manufactures. 4. Chemical technology, including students in the evening classes and preparatory division. The attendance exceeds two thousand every year. It is difficult to draw a distinct line, and declare, Here Science ends and Art begins. This will be acknowledged by any one who visits the Polytechnic at Vienna, or any of its fellows. Take the study of architecture as an example. It is certainly necessary that the architect should have exact mathematical knowledge, that he may calculate the power of tension, capacity of bearing weight, etc., of the different materials he uses ; but he must also be educated in art taste or his designs will be sorry, tame affairs. Indeed, there is no man in our midst who needs to be so thoroughly an artist as he who would aspire to be a real architect, and none who has more influence upon the life of the people whom he serves. A house, if it is ugly, still represents so much labor and capital, and cannot be pulled down simply on the score of its ugliness; but a beautiful building, harmonious in each part, represents more than its mere cost: it becomes a silent educator, and remains a charm to all who see it. It is, therefore, but right to look for Fine Art instruction in any institution that professes to teach architecture. This is found at Vienna, where the pupils are instructed, as were the Greeks of old, by draw- REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 119 ing and studying the best buildings in their neighborhood, the professors—men whose names alone carry commendation— pointing out and explaining every grand, broad, general effect, as well as the minutest detail that can be shown. To the Viennese, architecture is a very important profession, as it has depended and still depends upon the able men in this department whether they shall have a beautiful city or the reverse. So far, it is in the first state, if the opinions of the many visitors drawn thither by the Exhibition can be taken as sufficient evidence. Thus, then, though separate institutions, it will be seen that the Museum of Art as applied to Industry and the Polytechnic Institute have much in common, and fitly dovetail into each other. The Museum of Arts reaches out after other objects than its neighbor, while it does much to fill in the necessary details, of great value to the students of the Polytechnic Institute, and vice versa. ' Take, as an illustration, the manufacture of Terra-Cotta—a business that has grown prodigiously in Austria, Germany and England of late years. The determining of the right clays, to form a fit combination; the formation of kilns to harden these clays; the calculations as to the shrinkage of the clay while passing through the firing process, with other details, rightly belong to the Poly technical Institution ; but the artistic modelling of tasteful ware and statues in Terra- Cotta comes fairly within the province of the Museum and the School attached. That this aid has not been slight, but, on the contrary, extremely beneficial, is the testimonj^ of the manager of the largest clay-working establishment in Austria, and the second largest in the world, verified by personal observation. It would be a vain task to attempt to describe the high perfection to which this art has been brought by the Viennese. Remembering this, it is a source of regret that our own country is so backward in this manufacture, when all the needed materials exist in abundance. Nature has here been bountiful in this as in nearly all her raw materials. It is an industry that could be promoted in this country with a fair prospect of remunerative returns ; first, to the manufacturer, and more remotely, in improving the public taste by supplying 120 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. cheap and enduring statues, vases, fountains, etc., modelled to correct and artistic forms. It is also available for architecture, being the natural sequence of brick making—the attempt of artistic power to progress from machine-pressed, square, clay bricks to hand- modelled clay, fine art objects for the million. Once modelled, these can be reproduced by pressing in moulds, ad infinitum —alike, yet unlike, as the artist can touch up each pressed form while the clay is yet pliable, ere it is put into the kilns. Then, too, it is made in different colors. The Italian Terra- Cotta is famous for its deep rich red color. The German and Austrian manufacturers endeavor to make theirs resemble stone, so that it may be used for ornamental work in combination with that material, thus effecting a considerable saving in outlay, and securing effective ornamentation for the façades of their buildings. In England all colors are used, although the principal architects, who favor it as a building material, desire that the English work should show the natural marks of the firing, so stamping it as no imitation of another material, but as a legitimate and old-time medium for forming buildings and articles of utility and art. Several buildings lately erected in London are particularly striking. The combination of terra-cotta with pressed brickwork is charming in the highest degree. It is safe to request —iu these latter days when almost every one travels—that if any of the readers of this Report, in the future, find themselves in London, they should seek the merchants’ offices, built directly opposite the Ludgate Hill Railroad depot ; and if the London soot and smoke have not blackened the building, there is no fear but that this suggestion will be pardoned on account of the pleasure. experienced. While in this locality, round by the home of the " Thunderer,” near Printing-house Square, is a neat store, the elaborate front and interior of which will bear inspection and pay for the time bestowed upon them. The inside walls are lined with Minton’s encaustic tiles, evidently designed and made for this building. The pictures on the tiles are beautiful paintings of pastoral scenes. This tile work is another artistic production which should be carried on in this country, but which is entirely neglected, on the reasoning that we can buy all REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 121 we want from England, while we devote ourselves to rougher and better-paying labor. In Europe they have the advantage over us, in the long artistic training that has been afforded the people; but we can avail ourselves of their previous experience, and progress more rapidly from the knowledge so gained, as is evident from the work already accomplished in Massachusetts. But, as has been indicated in the instances cited above, without exhausting the list, there are so many kinds of artistic work of which we know nothing, except as we purchase specimens ready-mad« from foreign markets, that much hard and continuous labor is entailed upon us, if we desire to be an artistic as well as an industrial people. It is worth while to note the fact that terra-cotta, like brick-work, is a fire-proof material, hence deserving of notice in America where the fire-king has wrought such terrible havoc. Specimens of terra-cotta that have passed through a fierce and destructive fire are shown at Vienna, to prove its power of resisting heat. The facts, as related, certainly demonstrate that it will stand fire without being very seriously damaged, if it is not injured by the falling masses that generally cave in, at any really calamitous conflagration. That it will endure for ages is proven by the specimens of a ncient workmanship exhibited in almost every European museum. There are articles made of terra-cotta in the British Museum, at least three thousand years old. The mark of the artificers’ tools show as plainly as when first burnt in. While writing of terra-cotta specimens in the museums of Europe, it may be said that they contain specimens of everything, many articles and subjects exhibited being to-day priceless, on account of their antiquity, rarity, and intrinsic Va lue as exemplars of ancient art and industry. Vienna is a bundautly supplied with these collections. The imperial palace* is a rich treasury of works of art and collections of scientific objects easily accessible to the public. The Swiss Court has the private library of the Emperor; also some sixty * principal royal palaces of Europe are becoming more and more every year ^-places or art-galleries for the occasional use of the crowned monarchs, who Nominally own them, and for the general use of the public, who really own them. 16 122 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. thousand maps. The jewel office is open three days in the week, during the summer months, to the public. There is also a collection in this court known as the Physico-Astro- nomical Cabinet. This is likewise open to the public, but visitors must make application to the custodian. The Royal Library is situated near the Winter Riding School and contains over three hundred thousand volumes, twelve thousand parchments, twenty thousand manuscripts, and upwards of eight hundred volumes of wood and copper engraving, etc. In the palace, there is also a Cabinet of Zoology and Natural History—one of the richest collections to be found anywhere. The public are admitted one day in the week. A Mineralog- ical Cabinet is attached, beside the Numismatical Cabinet and collections of antiquities. Its collection of specimens of cut- gems stands unrivalled, and the bronzes, vases, gold and silver-work accumulated represent an enormous value. The Belvidere Gallery is one of the world-renowned art- buildings. Any good guide-book will tell of the works of the old masters collected within its walls, a single one of which would be considered a grand acquisition to any of our modern formed galleries; but they cannot be bought; they are not for sale. At the Belvidere, there is a collection of antique works of art, which forms the complement of the Cabinet of Coins and Antiquities in the Palace (Hoffburg); and, lastly, there is a Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. The Royal Armory is in the building called Stallburg. This collection includes a fine assortment of all kinds of weapons, and other appurtenances of war, which may be seen daily, free. There is also a Museum of the Academy of Art, containing a number of valuable engravings, ancient paintings, marbles» and a great assortment of plaster of Paris casts, of considerable merit. This is open, free, once a week. There are Medical, Botanical, Polytechnic, University» and many private galleries, to which the public can gam admittance. Prince Liechtenstien’s Picture-gallery contains some twenty-four thousand free-hand drawings,—many by Albert Dürer, and two hundred thousand engravings on copper* This is open twice a week. REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 123 In front of the Imperial Palace, the Museums of Science and Art are in course of erection, and will be immense structures, if the foundations are any guide to an idea of their proposed size. The fact that these buildings have been commenced indicates that the judgment of the leading men and of the Parliament of the Austrian Empire is still favorably inclined toward this method of fostering and cultivating public taste. They ought to be able to judge well of its effect, having had so long an experience with the galleries already in operation. The following is a concise summary, from the official catalogue, of the facilities for technical education provided by the Austrian Government for its people. It does not include the Art and Industrial Museum or School, or the galleries and collections above enumerated. “ In Austria proper there are 45 Superior Schools and Academies for scientific instruction in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, the cultivation of the vine and the silk-worm, and veterinary surgery, also of mining, navigation and commerce; with seven Polytechnic Schools, in all having 6,000 pupils and 426 professors and teachers. These schools are in part sustained by the Imperial Government, and are under the general direction of the minister charged with educational matters. “Hungary has 13 similar schools, with 116 teachers and 1,311 Pupils. Bohemia has an extended system of industrial instruction, more diffuse than in other parts of the empire. “ What are termed ‘ burgher schools,’ answering to our secondary 0r grammar schools, have special courses, designed for mechanical a nd commercial training. “Besides, there are, throughout the Austrian provinces, many Workman and apprentice schools, usually teaching some special hade. In Vienna and Prague there are a number of these. In latter city, there is one whose course includes the technical sciences, practical weaving, linear and free-hand, machine and constructive drawing, lectures on machinery, practical chemistry and Modelling. These are classes for machinists, building trades, Weavers, dyers, industrial artisans—as goldsmiths, jewellers, por- Ce lain makers, etc.” I 124 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. It must be confessed that Austria presents a splendid arrangement of practical and artistic educational agencies, and it is already evidenced that in the future they will increase rather than decrease. The principal trouble there is the extreme difficulty of obtaining a sufficient number of competent teachers. This will be remedied in the future, now that it is so generally recognized that the teacher’s post is a most honorable one. It is safe to say that it is educated labor that prevented Vienna from sinking into a torpid state after the terrible blow Austria received at the hands of Prussia in 1866, so soon after her defeat in Italy, by the combined Italian and French forces. Her rulers were compelled to see, through the sober light of misfortune, that their true interest consisted in fostering industrial progress, and developing the resources of the empire. This had been done to a very considerable extent previous to the events referred to above; and because such was the case, the city of Vienna could not lose her prestige; but by continuing to work in the same path of educating labor and fostering taste, she has attained a greater degree of prosperity than she ever before possessed—fortunate in having men at the head of affairs who see the importance of encouraging industrial enterprise and progress in the widest and broadest sense; fortunate in having a splendid system of instruction by which the citizen is helped in his life’s work; and in having men who were already first in the trades and business for which Vienna is, and is becoming, famous. A slight glance at the work done in the Austrian capital and its natural advantages will show the correctness of the assumption that the strength of this empire lies, not in her drilled legions of soldiers, but in the armies of busy, skilful» hardy, trained workers. The industrial progress so apparent in Austria may really be said to have commenced in 1860, when the old walls that encircled the city were thrown down, and new boulevards built on their site; and confirmed when her rulers, in 1866, were taught that a stronger military power existed than their own. It must be remembered that, with all her educational facilities, Vienna could not have attained her present degree of importance in the world if there were not unusual natural REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 125 advantages to help to form a great city. The position of Vienna is unique, and had not the evil influence of a repressive governmental system checked private home or foreign enterprise, preventing everything like thorough development, Vienna must have been, at the present hour, second in importance to no continental city. It stands upon the confines of civilization and semi-barbarism, on the bank of a stream which receives into its waters no less than thirty-four navigable rivers, and which, connected as it is with the Rhine and the Maine by the Ludwig’s Canal, directly unites the German Ocean with the Black Sea. Of all European capitals it is nearest to those points where the Elbe, Weichsel, Oder and Dniester rivers become navigable; the nearest to the Adriatic (Trieste), the Grecian Archipelago (Piraeus), the iEgean Sea (Solonica), and the Black Sea (Constantinople, Varna, Kur- tange and Odessa). From Moscow or Petersburg to Italy ; from Moscow to Spain, France and England; from London, Edinburgh and Dublin to Constantinople; from Paris to Odessa; from North Germany to Stamboul or Athens,—the mad to be taken must run through Vienna; and that road must be the Austro-Hungarian Railroad, long in contemplation, and which will be built, if the Austrian executives pursue with vigor the path upon which they seem to have set out. Vienna is the greatest and most advanced outpost °f manufacturing industry on the* banks of the Danube; it is the natural depot of the raw produce furnished by the vast tract of country known as the Lands of the Danube, from ^hich it may be distributed to its proper destination for con- sumption ; the central mart for the corn, woollen, hide and leather trades, for wine and other agricultural produce of these territories by the Danube, is in Vienna. The numerous railroads radiating from the city are obvious proofs of the magnitude of the existing and expected commercial traffic. The above is but a brief summary of the city’s natural and ac quired advantages. The real struggle between the great powers of Europe to-day, lies in the endeavor to gain control of rivers and territories where commerce and industry can find the best P a ying return for their work. 126 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. Special products and industries are necessary conditions, appertaining to the commercial importance of a city. Even seaports, in which traffic and the forwarding trade predominate, require the support of productive territories, which, in at least one or more branches of industry, give it a particular excellence in the department especially cultivated by it. The Viennese cultivate so many that it is hard to select the few principal ones. All the various trades are reached, in a greater or lesser degree, by the Museum of Arts as applied to Industry and the numerous Fine Art Museums and Industrial Schools existing in the city. The workmen take the raw material brought to them, and, as an English artisan once said of the Parisian ouvriers , in comparing them with his own countrymen, they put a hundred dollars’ worth of work into it where w T e put one, before they permit it to pass from their hands. Every one knows or has heard that Vienna is famous for its meerschaum trade. The raw material is brought thither, where the taste and skill to manipulate it is to be found. The cutting and carving of this " foam of the sea ” is here raised to a fine art, and the workmen produce the most marvellous results. The fine, soft nature of the material gives the carvers opportunity to produce elegant and tasteful effects, and this the artisans in meerschaum ware at Vienna fully improve; hence they supply all the known world, where smokers exist, with their goods, and everywhere, because they are Viennese, they command a higher price. The bronze trade is another business carried on there, and bears quite a Viennese character—just as the French bronze work is Parisian. Austria used to purchase the bronze goods she needed from the French houses, until this trade was developed in Vienna, where, in the first place, bronze-work is applied to useful ornaments, such as lustres, candlesticks, chimney ornaments, etc. The strict observance of the truest rules of Art is particularly remarkable, and is chiefly due to the Museum of Art* and Industry, where considerable pains is taken to collect and exhibit the best, most chaste and most useful models applicable to this special trade. »REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 127 The leading architects of Vienna—most of whom are connected with the Art and Industry Museum—furnish many of the manufacturers engaged in the bronze trade with designs, so that the articles made after them harmonize "with the buildings into which they are to be fitted. This course enables the Viennese to compete w r ith the best French houses, as was shown at the Exposition. It was there evident to all who attempted the comparison that Austria had made rapid strides tow T ard reaching the artistic plane long ago attained by the French, and beyond which the latter do not seem to advance. The many little nick-nacks made of bronze, and known as "Articles of Vienna,” have very often combined in them fine woods, leather, paper, mother of pearl and jpapier mâché. This development of the bronze and leather trade has not taken place without exerting an influence upon the higher branches of artistic book-binding, which has likewise been peculiarly improved. It is noticeable that the development of one artistic idea, applied to industry, is sure to beget others in rapid succession, if the ground be but favorable for their growth. The manufacture of portrait albums, ornamental covers for diplomas, books, etc., calls for, besides the leather material, gilding, bronze, jewels, enamels and ivory. Workers in all these different materials are found in Vienna, as competent, if not more so, than those elsewhere, working cheerfully, "day in, day out,” for wages which wrnuld here be deemed miser- a bly small.. Indeed, it does seem strange that they should continue there, when this country would be glad of their help, and willing to pay treble what they now get for their labor. England has, in the past, given us a useful hint on this point. When she could secure a good workman, with special artistic skill, from the Continental countries of Europe, by paying extra for his services, she did so ; the result produced Was counted and sold as English work, and this practice insensibly educated the native artificer and designer by the new blood infused into the veins of their industry. It is to be expected that the Jewellers’ Art would be fostered in Vienna, as it is in every Catholic country in a 128 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. • greater or less degree. Such is the case. The aristocracy of this part of Europe have for ages been noted for their love for fine jewellery; hence here are found wonderfully cunning workmen in gold, silver and precious stones. Influenced on one side by the ruling church, with its highly developed Italian goldsmiths’ art, and on the other side by the nearer Orientals and Hungarians—who have to this day the most gorgeously dressed nobles and gentry in the world when they don the national costume—public taste chiefly governed by the rich, who dazzle with their profuse magnificence, thus has the Vienna jewellery attained a distinctively marked character, combining the richness of the East with the taste of the West. The Museum and School of Arts strive to keep this distinction prominent, as being a trait well worth the perpetuation. Without further attempting to enumerate the thousand and one trades carried on in Vienna and the surrounding country, many of which are of recent date but now firmly seated, we may notice that the great number of new buildings erected since the Ringstrasse was made, has called into being a new race of cabinet-workers. All the trades which find their occupation in furnishing houses have had an impetus given them by the efforts of the distinguished architects who have designed so much of New Vienna, *to improve the interior decorations and furnishings of the new buildings. Cabinet-making^ carpet-weaving, bronze-work, modelling and frescoing for walls and ceilings, marble-working, etc.—with all these trades the Museum has had direct contact, and has met with the greatest measure of success that has rewarded any of the efforts of the authorities to improve and elevate work and the workers. The influence of these attempts of the leading minds and teachers of Austria to elevate the taste and improve the skill of all her workers, professional and artisan, bids fair to be crowned with the happiest results. By enlarging the scope of the people’s mental vision, they insensibly polish their manners and aspirations, rendering them more content, cheerful and industrious. By giving them an interest in their daily work other than that which comes from it as being the means of earning a livelihood, an ambition is fos- REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 129 tered to excel in what each produces. It is of vital importance to the world at larsre that this should be done. O The introduction of steam machinery into industry has, without doubt, added greatly to the power and comfort of mankind; but in its onward progress it has left behind, or destroyed, some things that it would have been well to retain; and, among others, the artisan, thoroughly master of his craft in all its parts. One-branch hands are in the majority to-day—quick at a single thing only, as making the head of a pin or the handle of an iron shovel. It is not at all surprising that there are so many empty- headed and shallow-pated men in each community, who are so conceited as to think they have nothing to learn. This dwarfing of mental powers engenders a whole train of evils. Opeii the closed mines of the workman’s brains, and he becomes at once a thinker for himself, his work a pleasure to himself, and his life a blessing to all with whom he comes hi contact. Thus, if Austria should apparently lose money in her immediate efforts to elevate the taste and aspiration of her people, ere long it will return to her with compound interest. The Exposition itself will have a great effect upon the nation. The native artificers, manufacturers and designers, have been able to compare the work of all the world with their own. In making this comparison they will have learned many lessons, and the varied literature the Exposition has called forth carries to their homes the ideas of men trained to observe and to report upon their observations. They must have noticed the general average ability of nearly all the European countries, in the staple manufactured articles m every day use, such as calicoes, boots, woollen cloth, etc. This is owing to the general acceptance of the same kind of machinery to perform the work. No sooner is a labor-saving machine invented in one country than it is copied entire, or m its essential parts, and used in every country where it is deeded. America and England have supplied the rest of the world ^ffh more practical help in this way than all the other Wations put together; yet with all this start, the other Nations are creeping up to these in industrial progress. 17 130 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. The Technical and Polytechnic Schools have greatly helped to effect this result; while, upon the other hand, Austria, Germany and England, have, by diligent attention, greater or less in degree, paid to the subject of Art-industry, gradually neared the two nations so long famous for tine work, industrial and artistic—France and Italy. The United States is not in the race, if w T e may judge her by what was exhibited in the American section of the Vienna Exposition. Not that it was worthy in any respect of the position w T e occupy among the nations of the earth, though we secured moi;e prizes in proportion to the number of exhibitors than any other country. Those prizes were all awarded upon the basis of industrial merit. The artistic element was nil , if we except Prang’s chromos and the photographs exhibited. The first germs of a change in this respect were shown in the School Group; viz., samples of drawings executed by the pupils of our common schools and by students of the evening classes, established in several of our large cities. It was but a grain in that vast granary, but any one who took the trouble to compare these drawings with those exhibited as the work of the pupils of a similar grade in the Austrian, Swiss or German section, found that their merit was as great as that of the others, notwithstanding the much shorter period this kind of instruction has been imparted to the young scholars here. This is a small but very encouraging fact. Those countries that have not paid the same attention to Art-industrial education as have the principal nations of Europe, were poor in proportion in their exhibition. Spain and Portugal are illustrations of decay in these matters. Kussia, Sweden and Denmark illustrate the results of a one-sided education, i. e., technical; the bulk of their exhibit consisting of articles of utility, industry and defence. Austria, as we have seen, showed an even balance. Germany is not so strong in her Art as in her Industry, but is still very respectable, and evinces a strong tendency to improve in the future in this respect. Much that she has done is of the first order; still, the professional men engaged in the endeavor to elevate the standard of taste in their country’s work are not satisfied. They regard their own progress as too slow, and continually fret under the influence of French REPORT OF MR. IIINTON - . 131 inspiration. Honest Germans are not wanting to tell their countrymen of their faults, and to point out what they deem to be the remedy for them. One of these, writing in a publication issued for the special purpose of improving the taste of the people, says :— “ The German States have still a great work before them, ere they can Emancipate themselves from the influence of French art. They have made considerable progress since the Paris Exposition of 18G7, but it is still evident that very much of the German art-industry is altogether bound by French taste. No matter how well one race ma}^ think they are copying the works and art of another, in so much as it is copying, the result will be void of originality, expression, and freshness, and becomes fainter and weaker at each repetition.” The German critic assails French taste at some length, and claims that it is based on entirely wrong principles :— “ An all-prevailing fashion, and the decline of all art during the last centuries are the causes through which it has acquired and retained its powerful sway. The superiority of the French art-workmanship lies in the possession of a great number of artists who extend and practice an hereditary skill and dexterity. The fascinating charm of their creations consists in mere outward finery and show, or, in an accomplished superficial treatment, a manual facility or genius for arrangement, and an originality of invention instead °£ truthfulness of expression and faultless beauty in structure and form. These accomplishments and charm, certainly of great value, when combined with true art, are necessarily lost in copies and imitations, because they are the exclusive specialty of the French artist; hence the miserable failure of our own artists and designers,'who imitate French teachings and turn out mongrel conceptions, neither native or French.” Some part of the above will apply to ourselves if we will but be candid in our confessions. Admitting this, we must !°ok to it that the aims of our slowly increasing number of Museums and art schools, shall mainly be directed to correct this servile defect. We are strong enough now to walk alone 111 this path, as we have in so many others. -The critic quoted above points out a remedy for the evils which he complains, and as his words help to show the 132 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. influence and drift of modern art-industrial education, a further quotation will be pardoned :— “ There is no difficulty in finding the path we must follow. England has already chosen it with great success, and it lies open to us also. It was fortunate for the reforming endeavor in England, and is beneficial for us, that French taste and French art-industry are, in themselves, hollow, insipid and perverted. It is here that the English apply the lever with a keen understanding. Had they continued following the French, the}' would have naturally always kept in the back ground ; they would not have been able to overtake the amazing start their rivals possessed. They were obliged first, to oppose a new and true taste to the old acknowledged bad one, and then to convert the world—perhaps the hardest part of the task. To the arbitrary caprice of the French, the}' opposed conventional strictness of style ; to frivolity, principles ; to outward show and puppetlike attire, the dignity innate to art. In order not to be led astray or to permit the ascendancy of what ought to be secondary, they kept constantly before their eyes the goal they aim to reach. “The recent international exhibitions showed that wherever the object was taken up and pursued with strict consistency, as in paper hangings, carpets, porcelain, terra-cotta and upholstery, but above all in works of crystal, the English either surpassed, or, after traversing the wide distance which had separated them, equalled the French. Where, however, they allowed themselves to remain subjected to French fashion, especially in works of gold, silver and jewellery, there they remained far behind. * * * “We are aware, indeed, that the efforts w'hich the patrons of art in England, supported by the government, have made to act upon the public mind, are of the most manifold kinds; that museums and other institutions, general instruction in drawing, public lectures, popular literature, are constantly extending their influence. We know, too, that this influence is gradually gaining ground every day, and that its ultimate result cannot be doubtful. The present state of the case, and the path we have to follow, are thus clearly marked out for us. In the first place we must, and that immediately! emancipate ourselves from French taste. We must no longer allow ourselves to look with slavish admiration on Paris. We must not, as hitherto, regard whatever comes from thence as faultless in beauty and unexceptional in taste, without exercising our own reflection and judgment, but rather look upon it with the persuasion that much that comes from there is faulty. We allow that French works of art-industry are very much better than our own, but still they are not absolutely good, only relatively so.” IiErORT OE MR. IIINTOX. 133 The writer’s words, addressed specially to his own .countrymen, have certainly a meaning for us, if we ponder them over well, now that real, earnest efforts are being put forth to found a genuine American system of Education in Art-Industry. But it must be remembered, that if we want quick and valuable results, our outlay and exertions must be in proportion to our desires. To give a lukewarm support to the movement, and then, ten years hence, grumble because we have not effected as great changes as other countries in a like period of time have done, would be but a sorry way to bring about a beneficial result, though it is what is likely to happen unless a very strong interest is aroused in the public mind in behalf of the idea. In England, it is the fashion to grumble and growl at the amount of work performed by the South Kensington Museum and Schools, and their method of doing it, even for those who are ignorant of what is really accomplished. The work has been something marvellous in extent and rapidity of execution, as is fully shown by the opinions of the critics and observers who are not English. That Austria believes in following the example set by the English is plain from her actions, as is also the case with most of the German States,*who, if they have not already established Museums and Schools on the South Kensington plan, propose to do so in the near future, to supplement their already existing systems of technical and artistic instruction. Even Italy moves into line, notwithstanding that her name is almost synonymous with the Beaux Arts. France e arly acknowledged the value of the movement, and her recorded statements are curious but clear proofs of how soon it is Possible to inaugurate a new reign of taste, and create the skill to meet it. Bearing in mind the fact that the International Exhibition of 1851 showed the unrivalled supremacy of France m nearly all matters of Art-Industry, the reports of the French Commissioners and Jurors of the Exhibition of 1862 will show that swift work had been performed in the decade between these dates, and will establish the fact that this Art-cducation as applied to industry is no natural demand, but one entirely artificial in character, shaped by the demands of our complex 8 ystem of civilization, yet capable of an early and rapid 134 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. development in the hands of vigorous and well supported leaders. The following extracts are interesting, as showing the influence and value of the institutions comprised in Group XXII., illustrated by a single example—that at South Kensington :— French Jurors’ Report —1862. [Extract from Report by M. Natalis Rondot.] “On the closing day of the Exhibition of 1851, Prince Albert pointed out to England the new object which she ought henceforth to pursue. His words found an echo in all workshops, and the mayor of one of the chief manufacturing towns then said that ‘ the greatest benefit which could be conferred upon industry would be to give, by the development and improvement of Art-education, a purer and more practised taste to the producer as well as to the consumer.’ The Department of Science and Art has been created under the swa}” of these ideas. * * * * In almost every direction, the influence of a larger number of teachers of drawing, and of working draughtsmen is making itself felt. The manufacturers of Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Worcester, and Staffordshire recognize the fact that their best designers come from the Schools of Art, and that, thanks to them, the general character of designs and of forms has undergone the most hapfy modification. “ Before the next ten years have passed, English industry will have more than one million workmen, who will have acquired, by several years of schooling, sound notions of Art and Science, and an intelligent practice of drawing ; circulating museums and collections will have familiarized many millions of manufacturers and workmen with the stjdes of all countries, and of all great epochs, with the most beautiful types of ornament, and the most esteemed models of every kind.” [Extract from Report by M. Rapet.] “ The study of drawing in the primary schools in England dates only from ten years back. Until then it had remained a privileged study, reserved exclusively for the richer classes. But the Exhibition of 1851, which rendered distinctly visible the superiority of France, in those products which demand taste, and the value of which is based upon a knowledge of design, revealed to England the cause of her inferiority. With that ardor which she displays in the pursuit of an object, as soon as she thinks it useful to attain it, she undertook, almost immediately after the close of the Exhibition, REPORT OF MR. HINTON. 135 to establish Schools of Design over the whole of the United Kingdom. Since then, she has pursued her work with characteristic perseverance, and without shrinking from the sacrifices demanded by an enterprise in which everything had to be created. A new branch of the council on education has been established, under the title of Department of Art. Its special mission is to urge forward the creation of Schools of Design, the professors of which receive a direct payment from the government, and further remuneration, proportioned to the number of pupils to whom they give instruction. At the same time a Normal School was established for the training of masters, and a system of awards and prizes organized to encourage the study of drawing on the part of the pupils who attend the schools. A Museum of objects of Art was likewise formed to help this teaching, and the Department of Art itself caused to be prepared from the commencement, models to serve for instruction in the schools. Its example has since been followed by publishers, who have already begun to publish important collections of models of design. “ It would be out of place to expect from a system of education which is s'till in its infancy, the progress which such a system may have made in countries where it has been long established; nevertheless, in examining the English Exhibition, we must at once admit that England has turned to good account the experience of other nations. In particular, she has borrowed largely from France, whose published models may be found frequently employed in the ■English schools. “ In observing the results of these efforts, and taking notes of deficiencies, it is impossible to ignore the fact that a serious struggle awaits France from this quarter, and that by slumbering in treacherous security, our country would risk the loss of that superiority to which numerous branches of her industry owe their importance and their glory. “ It may not be useless to add here that England is in another respect our competitor bj T carrying off our designers. For many years her manufactories have attracted them, by the high wages With which their services are remunerated. But it is a very remark- a ble fact that these artists have often lost, after sojourning some lime on the other side of the channel, the superiority of taste by which they, were previously distinguished.” [Extract from Report by M. C. Robert.] u Since the Universal Exhibition of 1855, immense progress has I* e en made throughout the whole of Europe, and although we have n °t remained stationary, we cannot conceal from ourselves that the 136 EXPOSITION AT VIENNA. advance which we have made has diminished, and even has a tendency to disappear. “ In the midst of the successes obtained by our workmen, it is our duty to remind them that defeat is possible; that it may be even foreseen at *10 distant date, unless they exert at once all their efforts to maintain a superiority, which can be kept only on the condition of incessant self-improvement. “ English industry in particular, which, from the artistic point of view seemed greatly in arrear at the Exhibition of 1851, has, during the last ten years, made amazing progress, and should it continue to advance at the same rate, we might soon be left behind. This state of things appears to us to merit the most serious attention of the French government and manufacturers. * * * “ It is particularly in that which concerns the application of art to industry, that England manifests the happiest and most notable improvement. A new school has been founded, on a plan admirably devised for the advantage of industry, and neither care nor money has been spared to render it worthy of its mission. “ With regard to the influence exercised within so short a period by this great institution, we fully admit the testimony