Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-11-19
OUR HUEDREDTH BIRTHDAY.
The Prospectus of the Centennial
Exhibition to be Held at
Philadelphia.
Ana Address by the United States
Centennial Commission.

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Centennial Commission.
To the People of the United States:
The Congress Of the United States has
enacted that the completion Of the One
Hundredth Year of American Indepsnd-
enee shall be celebrated Eby an Inter
national Exhibition of the Arts, Manufac-
lures, and Products Of the soil and mine, to
be held at Philadelphia, in 1876, and has
appointed Commission, consisting of rep
reseDtatives from each State and Territory,
to conduct the celebration.
Originating under the auspices of the
National Legislature, controlled bya Ma
tional Commission, and designed as it is to
aCommemorate the first Century OF ourex-
istence, by al Exhibition of the Natural re :.
sources of the Country aud their develop
ment, ard of our progress in those Arts
which benefit mankind, IN comparison with
those Of older Nations" it is to the people
at large that the Commission look for the
aid which is necessary TO make the Centen-
NAL Celebration the gTandest anniversary
the world has ever seen. -r,,,,.,-
Tkatthe completion Of the first century
Of our existence should be marked by some
imposing demonstration is, we believe, the
patriotic wish of the people Of the whole
country. The Congress of the United
States has wisely decided that the birth day
of the Great Republic can be more fttingly
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 tri-
umphs of our citizens, specimens of every
thing that America can furnish, whether
fIom the brains or the hands Of her child
rem, and thus make evident to the world the
advancement of which self governed peo-
pie is capable.
In this celebration" all nations will be
invited to participate; It's character being
international. Europe will display her arts
and manufactures, India her curious fab
RIGS, while newly opened China and Japan
will lay bare the treasures which for censu-
ries their Ingenious people have been per-
fecting. Each land will compete in gener-
Gus rivalry for the palm of superior excel
lence. aea - 49, $3.50
To this grand gathering every zone will
contribute its fruits and cereals. No min
eral shall be wanting; for what the East
lacks the West will supply. Under one
roof will the South display in rich luxu-
rance her growing cotton, and the North
in miniature, the ceaseless machinery of
her mills converting that cotton into cloth.
Each section of the globe vii send its best
offerings to this exhibition, and each State
of the Union, as a member of one united
body polite, will show to her sister States
and to the world, how much she can add
to the greatness Of the nation of which she
Is harmonious palt.
To make the Centennial celebration such
a success as the patriotism and the pride Of
every American demands will require the
cooperation of the people of the whole
country. The United States Centennial
Commission has received no government
aid, such as England extended to her
Worlds Fair, and 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 es-
timated that ten millions of dollars will be
required, and this sum Congress has pro-
vided shall be raised by stock subscription,
and that the people shall have the opportu-
nifty Of subscribing in proportion to the
population of their respective States and
Territories.
The Commission looks to the unfailing
patriotism OF the people OF every Sectl on,
20 see that each Contributes its share to the
expenses, and receive its share of the bene-
fits of an enterprise in which all are so deep
ly interested. 1t would further earnestly
urge the formation in each State and Ter
ritory of a centennial organization, which
shall in time see that county associations
are formed, so that when the nations are
gathered together in 1876 each Common
wealth can view with pride the contribu-
tons she has made to the national glory.
Confidently relying on the zeal and patri.
otism ever displayed by our people in every
national undertaking, we pledge and pro-
phesy, that the Centennial Celebration will
worthily show how greatness, wealth and
intelligence, can DO fostersd by such insti-
tutions as those which have for one humid
red years blessed the people of the United
States. JOSEPH Z. HAwLEY, President.
LEWIS VAIN SMITH, Temporary Sec.