Year: 1872

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 Independ-
ence shall be celebrated by an Intcrna-
tional Exhibition of the Arts, Manufact-
ures, and products of the soil and mine,
to be held at Philadelphia, in 1876, and
has appointed Il Commission, consisting
of representatives from each State and
Territory, to conduct the celebration.


Originating under the auspices of the
National Legislature, controlled by a
National Commission, and designed as
it is to Commemorate 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 mankind, in
comparison with those of older Nations" J."
it is to the people at large that the Com
mission look for the aid which is necessa-
ry 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 imposing demonstration is, we be-
lieve, the patriotic wish of the people of
the whole country. The Congress of the
United States has wisely decided that the
Birthday of the Great Republic can be
most fttingly celebrated by the universal
collection and display of all the trophies
of its progress. 1t is designed to bring
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,
specimens of everything that America
can furnish, whether from the brains or
the hands of her children, and thus
make evident to the world the advance
ment of which Il self governed people is
capable.


In this Celebration" all nations will
be invited to participates; its character
being international. Europe will dis
play her arts and manufactures, India
her curious fabrics, while newly opened
China and Japan will lay bare the treas
ures which for centuries their ingenious
people have been perfecting. Each land
will compete in generous rivalry for the
palm Of 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
luxurance her growing cotton, and the
North in miniature the ceaseless machn-
cry of her mills converting that cotton
into cloth. Each section Of the globe
will send its best offerings to this exhibi-
ton, 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 harmonius
part.


To make the Centennial Celebration
such 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 ex-
tended to her Worlds Fair, and France
to her Universal Exposition, yet the labor
and responsibility imposed upon the Com
mission is as great as in either of these
undertakings. 1t is estimated that ten
millions 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 sub
scribing in proportion to the population
of their respective States and Territories.


The Commission looks to the unlailing
patriotism of the people of every section,
to see that each contributes its share Of
the expenses, and receives its share of the
benefits of an enterprise in which all are
so deeply interested. 1t would further
earnestly urge the formation ir each State
and Territory of centennial organization
which shall in time see that county asso-
Citations are formed, so that when the
nations are gathered together in 1876 each
Commonwealth can view with pride the
contributions she has made to the nation
al glory.


Confidently relying on the zeal and
patriotism ever displayed by our people
in every national undertaking, we pledge
and prophesy, that the Centennial Cele-
bration will worthily show how great
ness, wealth and intelligence, can be fos-
tered by such Institutions as those which
have for one hundred years blessed the
people of the United States.


JOSEPH r. HAWLEY,


President.


LEWIS WALN SMITH,


Temporary Secretary.