Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-09-18
PRESIDENT GOLFERS SPEECH.
Remarks of the Director General of
the Exposition.

the Exposition.
| ATLANTA, Ca September 1S.-The fol-
| lowing is the speech of Chas. A. Collier,
| president and director general of the cot
| ton states exposition. today:
1.-The cotton states and international
| exposition owes it's. existence to move
ment which was inaugurated at the most
inauspicious period for such an enterprise
| to be found in the record of many years
| Eighteen months ago the practical prob
| lem for almost every community seemed
I to be how to save what it had, rather than
| to acquire new elements of strength. The
whole country was in state of depres-
| sion and anxiety; business was almost
| stagnant; the pulse of industrial life beat
| low; capital was apprehensive and re-
| luctant; labor had scanu employment and
diminished wages. The clouds which had
| darkened every material prospect d year
before still hung low over the land, and
| he was accounted either utopian or over
| bold who ventured to propose any great
/ undertaking. Fortunately for Atlanta.
| however, she had among her sons many
whose faith in her and in the country had
| remained mistaken, even by the severe
! conditions that then prevailed, and in con-
| fident anticipation Of a better day soon to
| come they suggested and set on foot tile
| movement which has led up to this event.
| The courage, the zeal, the defiance of
| difficulties, the indomitable energy which
exhibited in scarcely higher degree when
| they so rapidly rebuilt Atlanta from the
| ashes of war than they ere in the history
! of this exposition With unaninity such
| few cities have ever displayed in any
| cause they have stood by the enterprise
| from its very inception to this good hour.
With a liberality tha. was royal they
| have contributed 20 it; with an enthuSi-
| asm and pertina:ity which have advanc-
| ed their already well-earned reputation for
| proclaiming the achievements and pres
poets of their city they have heralded and
| chronicled its glories
But the unanimity, the ardor and the
| hberality Of Atlanta alone could never
| have made possible what we behold to-
| day. To the cooperation Of many states
| and cities, to various foreign nations to
| industrial, scientific and social organiza-
| tons, to individual enterprise and inven-
| tive genius. to thrifty manufacturers far
and near, to artists and artisans, to the
| tireless devotion and exbaustless ingenuity
| OF heroic women, to the powerful aid of
the press and the generous favor of the
| federal government must attribute the
variety and splendor of this exhibition.
THE occasion den ands a special acknowl-
| edgment of our debt to the press, that
agency whose power to promote or pre-
vent, to bless or to blight, is incalculabe.
| The newspapers throughout the United
| States have given their cordial and inces-
| SAINT support to our undertaking. They
| this exposition; they have advertised it to
| the world and won fol- it fame and
| favor which could never have been ac-
| quired without their ardent and persistent
advocacy.
Action by the Government.
ITO the federal authorities we also
| greatly beholden. When the Endorsement
| and aid of the government were sought
| there was a response which proved that
| though We are divided geographically into
states and sections we are in heart and
purpose indivjsible people. When our
petition went before Congress party lines
disappeared and the clangor of sectional
ism was siienced We found friends in
every party group and from every section
of the Union. The people of Atlanta, of
Georgia and of the south will hold in last
ing and grateful remembrance that demon
stration of sympathy by their brethren of
the north and west, and stand ready to
prove that they are not to be outdone III
generous deeds. Cne of the noblest posi-
bilitieS Of this exposition Is that 1t may
zens of every part Of the republic. We hail
with pride the symbols Of the nations
strength and the evidences of the wise and
the benefcent direction of it's authority
which are here displayed.
The Genius of Woman.
1.-The advancement of the and the
adoption of truer ideals have enabled us to
profit inestimably by that expanding force
in our civilizatior-the genius of woman.
The part it plays here is large, and the use
it has made of this opportunity will un-
questionably cohduce to the fuller recoS-
milton of womans righteous claims and
fairer estimate of the value of her work.
gle with the world will be widened by the
triumphs of feminine capacity and skill
which are here arrayed.
The Negroes Progress.
"In justice to ourselves. as well as to
them, we have invited the cooperation of
! our negro fellow citizens. They have ac-
copied the responsibility of a department
of their own. and have filled it with proofs
of the progress they have made as free
men. They were employed largely in the
preparation here, as they are in almost all
our industries, and they will share largely
| in the honors and tactical benefits of the
exposition.
The Exposition Defined.
while the city, which originated it, and
enlisted the support necessary to its real
ization, will naturally be its chief bene-
fcary, the effects of this great industrial
demonstra ton will be confined to no city,
to no state, nor to any one nation. The
converging lines of influence and effort
which are embodied in this enterprise con-
Meeting it with every source from which
| they come, will convey far and wide its in
| MIGRATING stimulus, its useful lessons and
| its practical results. Who shall compute the
still further possibilities which may spring
| from the impressions and Investigations of
the multitudes who will come hither from
every part of this country and from other
lands? We have established here a great
| practical school, filled in every one of it's
many departments with object lessons of
progress in the arts and sciences, and with
Illustrations of the most improved appica-
lions of power for the profit, comfort and
delight of man. From the inevitable COM
parison of methods and products thus irsti-
tuted, from the competition of theories and
systems, from this battle Of ideas we may
confidently expect beneficent and far-reach-
ing results. It does not derogate from the
national and International character of the
exposition to say that, perhaps, the great
est revelations will relate to the resources
and possibilities of the cotton states. When
| our own people are just beginning to recog-
nize the magnificence of natures endow
| ment in the fields, the mines, the streams
and the climate of this region, 1t is not
strange that the outside world has been
| slow to gain full ard accurate knowledge
| concerning these sources Of health, happi-
ness and power. Both our own people and
| the outside world will know far more about
| the south at the close of this exposition
| than they know on this opening day. Reve-
| lations will spring in our familiar walks. A
| new beauty will light scenes on which we
| have looked long with undiscerning eyes,