The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-11-14
An Address by the United States Centen-
NAL Commission.

y 10 We IeOpte " tNe OHtCcU OCnCeS.
The Congress of the United States has Ell
acted that the completion Of the One Hun
dredth Year of American Independence shall
be celebrated by an International Exhibition
of the Arts, Manufactures, and products of
the soil and mine, to be held at Philadelphia,
in 1876, and disappointed commission cor
sisting of representatives from each State and
territory, TO conduct the celebration.
Originating under the auspices of the Ma
tional Legislature, controlled by a National
Commission, and designed as it is to "Com-
memorate the first Century of our existence,
by an exhibition of the natural resources of
the country and their development, and of
our progress in those arts which benefit man
kind, in comparison with those of older ma
tons," il is to the people at large that the
Commission looks for aid which is necessary
to make the Centennial Celebration the
grandest anniversary the world has ever seen.
That the completion of the first century Of
our existence should be marked by some i'm
posing demonstration is, we believe, the pat
riotic wish of the people of the whole coun-
try. The Congress of the United States has
wisely decided that the birthday of the Great
Republic can be most fittngly celebrated by
the universal collection and display of all the
trophies of its progress. 1t is designed to
bring together, within building covering
fifty acres, not only the varied productions of
our mines and of the soil, but types of all the
intellectual triumphs of our citizens, speci-
mems of everything that America can furnish,
whether from the brains or the han is Of her
children, and thus make evident to the world
the advancement of which self governed
people is capable.
In this Celebration all nations will be in
vted to participate; its character being In
ternational. Europe will display her arts
and manufactures, India her curious fabrics,
lay bare the treasures which for centuries
their ingenious people have been perfecting.
Each land will compete in generous rivalry
for the palm f superior excellence.
To this grand gathering every zone will
contribute its fruits and cereals. No mineral
shall be wanting; for what the East lacks
the West will supply. Under one roof will
the South display in rich luxuriance her
growing cotton, and the North in miniature,
the ceaseless machinery of her mills convert
ing that cotton into cloth. Each section of
the globe will send its best offerings to this
exhibition, and each State of the Union, as
member of one united body polite, will
show to her sister States and to the world,
how much she would add to the greatness of
the. nation of which she is harmonious
part.
To make to Centennial Celebration such a
success as the patriotism and the pride of ev-
cry American demands will require the CO.
operation of the people of the whole country.
The United States Centennial Commission
has received no Government aid. such as
,InI 20 IL, Ill To-
France to her Universal Exposition, yet the
labor and responsibility imposed upon the
Commission is as great as in either of those
undertakings. 1t is estimated that ten mill
ions of dollars will be required, and this sum
Congress has provided shall be raised by stock
subscription, and that the people shall have
the opportunity of subscribing in proportion
to the population of their respective States
and Territories.
The Commission looks to the unfailing pa
triotism of the people of every section, to see
that each contributes its share to the ex-
penses, and receives its share Of the benefits
of an enterprise in which all are
SO deeply interested. 1t would furth-
er earnestly urge the formation in
each State and Territory of centennial Or
ganization, which shall in time see that coun-
ty associations are formed, SO that when the
nations are gathered together in 1876 each
Commonwealth can view with pride the Gull
tributions she has made to the national
glory.
Confidently relying on the zeal and patriot
ism ever displayed by our people in every
national undertaking, we pledge and
that the Centennial Celebration
will worthily show how greatness, wealth and
can be fostered by such institu-
tons as those which have for one hundred
years blessed the people of the United States.
JOSEPH r. HAwLEY, President.
LEWIS VAIN SMITH, Temporary Secretary.