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��EDITORIAL MEMORANDA.
��EDITOBIAL MEMORANDA.
��There is a deal of truth in the old ad- age—" a new broom sweeps clean." No better illustration of the fact is afforded than in the success of the recent Belknap County fair at Laconia. While agricultu- ral fairs generally throughout the State have been "on the wane" for several years past, various devices outside the ordinary attractions being resorted to, in order to bring out the people, and thus insure financial success, and then not always with the hoped for result, this first annual exhibition of the new Bel- knap County Society exceeded, in all re- spects, and especially in the essential matter of public attendance, the highest expectations of its most sanguine friends. On one day eight thousand people were present, and the receipts altogether, were sufficient to meet all the expenses of the exhibition, and to pay in large part, if not entirely, the cost of the ex- cellent grounds which the Society have secured. Such a result must be not a little flattering to local pride in "little Belknap."
Friday, Sept. 14, was a memorable day in the history of " old Dover," it being the occasion of the dedication of the monument to the soldiers of the Union, from Dover, who lost their lives in the War of the Rebellion. The mon- ument itself, which is a tasteful and unique structure of marble and granite twenty-three feet and four inches in height, was erected through the efforts of the Sawyer Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, under whose auspices the dedicatory ceremonies were conduct- ed. Gov. Prescott and several members of his staff were in attendance, and in addition to the local military and civic organizations, the Newmarket Guards and the Rochester and Pittsfield Posts of the Grand Army were present and joined in the procession,which was thefinest'pa- geant witnessed in Dover for many years. Mayor S. H. Foye presided at the dedi-
��catory exercises. Rev. L. S. Coan of Alton delivered the poem, and Rev. Dr. Alonzo H. Quint, a well-known son of Dover, was the orator. In this connec- tion it may be remarked that Dr. Quint, as Masonic Grand Chaplain, took a prom- inent part in the dedication of the Army and Navy Monument in Boston on the Monday following.
��The statement is going the rounds of the press that there are now but eight students in the State Agricultural Col- lege at Hanover. When we consider the liberal endowment resulting from the land grant of the federal government, which this institution received, and the yearly appropriations which the State Legislature has made in its aid, we are forced to the conclusion that it is not, on the whole, a " paying investment." We do not contend or believe that in the in- struction afforded, or in the general practical management of the institution, ours is inferior to other Agricultural Col- leges; but even were it conclusively shown to be superior in these respects, so long as the results are what they are, so long as such a limited number of our young men avail themselves of the ad- vantages offered, and of this limited number but a small proportion subse- quently engage in agricultural pursuits, it must be conceded, even by the warm- est friends of the institution, that it has thus far practically proved a failure. We of New Hampshire are not alone in this experience. Similar institutions in other States have only accomplished similar results. The only inference to be drawn therefore, is, either that the farmers do not properly appreciate the advantages which these colleges offer, or that the fundamental idea upon which they are based is an erroneous one, and that class education, in any degree sustained at the public expense, must forever remain un- popular because unjust.
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