ADDRESS.

MAY I ask your attention for a few minutes, Ladies and Gentlemen, while I say a word in relation to a single department of this great Exposition? It is by the appointment and request of those who have the direction here, that I shall speak to you on the subject of wool and its manufactures. Among the numerous and varied products of art and industry which this occasion has brought together, you must have noticed that woolen fabrics hold a conspicuous place. The National Association of Wool Manufacturers, now about five years old, had already resolved on a special exhibition of their products; when, through the generous courtesy of the American Institute, a place was given them here. That old, honored, and useful institution desires, I am confident, no better proof that its kindness is fully appreciated, than that which our manufacturers have given in filling their allotted space with so many fine products of skillful industry.

Though the annual fairs of the Institute have long been celebrated, it may be doubted whether on any previous occasion there has been so rich and varied a display. As regards that part of it to which I now call your attention, I think no one can pass through the building and not

discover that in the number and variety of its contributions the woolen department far exceeds any other of the industrial interests here represented. This preeminence is due to the fact that these woolen contributions are the result of associated and systematic effort. Even this collection, large and full as it seems, gives but a partial idea of the wool manufacture in our country. Had all the other arts and industries which are to be seen on this spacious floor labored to bring out their strength as successfully as we have labored, the Institute would have needed numerous rinks as vast as this.

This exhibition of American woolens is the first instance of any attempt in our country to bring before the public eye, in one great collection, the characteristic products of a single industry. We can, I trust, honestly say that it is prompted by a higher motive than that of ambitious display. In no other way can the progress, the extent, and the value of such an industry be so effectually shown. No statements or statistics can be so impressive and convincing as the visible evidence which is furnished by an exhibition like that now before you. It is the next best thing to actually visiting the manufactories from which these fabrics come. Could you pass through the great establishments so honorably represented here, and look on their busy wheels and cards, and spindles, and looms-their myriads of thrifty, happy working men and women, the huge masses of raw material which they work up, and the countless car-loads of finished fabrics which daily leave the mills,