Abstract of Journal. 2d Session. The Committee on Classification, submitting and explaining the outlines of their proposed system of arrangement of objects exhibited. Invitations were accepted to visit the Cincinnati Industrial Exhibition, in September and October, 1872, a visiting committee being appointed; To attend a conversazione at the rooms of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American To make use of the rooms of the Centennial Committee of the State of Pennsylvania; To accept silk badges woven on the Jacquard looms of Messrs. Werner, Itchner, & To inspect the ship-yards and harbor of Philadelphia; To visit Fairmount Park with the Committee of City Councils on the Centennial Anniversary; To accept the privilege of free transportation over the Pennsylvania Railroad and its branches when traveling on the business of the Commission. Resolutions were passed as follows: "That each Commissioner and his Alternate are instructed in some suitable form to bring the objects of the Centennial Celebration of American Independence to the notice of the Governors of their respective States and Territories, and to ask them to call the special attention of their Legislatures, asking them to make some arrangement by the State Government to aid in forwarding this noble and patriotic enterprise;" also, further resolutions, recommending the formation of co-operative Boards of Centennial Managers in each State and Territory, and providing that a letter should be forwarded to each Governor suggesting a general plan of action; That an Address to the People of the United States should be issued, informing them of the characteristics of the Exhibition; That, upon the passage of the Act then pending in Congress for the incorporation of the Centennial Board of Finance, the Executive Committee should take all steps necessary for the organization of that body; That a collection should be made of the reports, statistics, etc., of previous International Exhibitions; That an official Seal be adopted for the use of the Centennial Commission; That the office of "Executive Commissioner" be constituted. In accordance with the last two resolutions, the Commission unanimously elected as Counsellor and Solicitor Mr. John L. Shoemaker, of Philadelphia, and as Executive Com missioner Mr. W. P. Blake, of Connecticut. The Special Committee on Classification was made a standing committee. THIRD SESSION. The Commission heard and adopted reports from The Executive Committee, reciting the progress which had been made in the organization of the Board of Finance, acknowledging the appropriation by the Philadelphia City Councils of $50,000 for the furtherance of that work and the current expenses of the Commission; reiterating the considerations which dictated a Congressional appropriation to the Commission, and deploring the death of Mr. Wm. Prescott Smith, of Maryland, a member of the Executive Committee;* * The (second) report of the Executive Committee is printed in full in the Appendix to the Jurnal of the third session, pp. 3-23. 3d Session. The Executive Commissioner, detailing the procedure which had been followed in Abstract of organizing the Board of Finance, the methods of popularizing the Exhibition by the dis- Journal. semination of addresses to industrial, scientific, and other associations; and correspondence which had occurred with individuals and societies purposing to participate in the Exnibition ;* The Committee on Classification, communicating proof-sheets of the system so far as perfected; The Committee on Plans and Architecture, explaining that funds were not yet available for the prosecution of its work; The Committee on Foreign Affairs, reporting upon its correspondence with societies and individuals abroad. An invitation was accepted to visit the club-house of the Union League of Philadelphia. Expressing the grief of the Commission at the death of Mr. William Prescott Smith, Authorizing the Executive Committee to proceed with the organization of the Board of Finance; Instructing the Executive Committee to co-operate with the Philadelphia citizens' committee who were engaged in furthering the Centennial Celebration; Instructing the President of the Commission to report to Congress the work thus far accomplished; Adopting a memorial (signed by all the members of the Commission present) soliciting such governmental assistance as might be necessary to carry on the preparations for the Exhibition; also requesting the Committee on Finance to proceed to Washington and lay the subject before Congress; Authorizing the President of the Commission to appoint a committee of its members to visit the International Exhibition at Vienna, 1873, and report upon it; Directing a revision of the By-Laws; Conveying to Mr. Lewis Waln Smith the thanks of the Commission for his discharge of the duties of Temporary Secretary. Mr. Lewis Waln Smith, Alternate Commissioner of Georgia, declared his inability to longer act as Temporary Secretary of the Commission. [No successor being appointed, Mr. Smith filled the position until the next session of the Commission.] Mr. Wm. P. Blake, Alternate Commissioner of Connecticut, resigned his office of Executive Commissioner. FOURTH SESSION. MAY 7-13, 1873. Reports were received and accepted from The Executive Committee, reciting its transactions since its previous report; the work done toward raising stock subscriptions and assisting the Exhibition by the Citizens' Centennial Finance Committee of Philadelphia, which represented every trade, profession, and business interest of the city; the co-operation of the Fairmount Park Commission, the Philadelphia City Councils Committee, and the Pennsylvania State Centennial Commission; the appropriation by the Philadelphia Councils of $500,000 toward the erection of the Centennial buildings; the holding of a grand mass-meeting (February 22, 1873) designed to stimulate interest in the Exhibition; the visit of the Executive Committee to Harrisburg See Appendix 3 to Journal of the third session, pp. 54-107. 4th Session. Abstract of 4th Session. to enlist the co-operation of the Governor and Legislature January 28, 1873), which was followed by a State appropriation of $1,000,000 toward the buildings; the passage of sympathetic resolutions by the Legislatures of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia; the assistance rendered by the newspaper press; the circular addresses issued to the people of the United States at large, and to representatives of various special interests; the sending of agents to the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873, who should report upon its organization, plans, etc.; the recognition (February 24, 1873) of the Women's Centennial Executive Committee; the organization (April 23, 1873) of the Centennial Board of Finance; and urging the need of a national appropriation of funds adequate to the conduct of the operations of the Centennial Commission ;* The Temporary Secretary (Mr. Lewis Waln Smith), detailing the expenditures on behalf of the Centennial Commission and the organization of the Board of Finance, and the work done for the Commission and by the Citizens' Committees ;† The Women's Centennial Executive Committee, accounting for their receipts of stock subscriptions; The Committee on Classification, describing the system of notation adopted; The Committee on Plans and Architecture, stating that a transfer of the Exhibition grounds had been made by the Park Commission; that it had been determined to erect several Exhibition buildings, covering in the aggregate about fifty acres of space; and that specifications for designs (of which a copy was annexed) had been issued to architects; Messrs. W. P. Blake and Henry Pettit, special agents to examine and report upon the Vienna International Exhibition of 1873; also from The special joint committee on conference, as to the relative rights and duties of the Centennial Commission and Board of Finance. || The Commission held conferences with the Centennial Board of Finance and Pennsylvania State Board of Supervisors; also with The Women's Centennial Executive Committee. Resolutions were passed Lamenting the death of William T. Read, Commissioner from Delaware; also of Minister of the United States to the Court of St. Petersburg; Thanking the Women's Centennial Committee of Pennsylvania for their labors in behalf of the Exhibition in Philadelphia, and commending their example to the women of other States; The Centennial Board of Finance and Pennsylvania State Board of Supervisors; Mr. Lewis Waln Smith, for his gratuitous discharge of the duties of Temporary Secretary since the organization of the Commission; Messrs. Bailie Peyton and Henry S. Foote, for their labors in aid of the Exhibition with the Legislatures of Kentucky and Tennessee; The States of Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Oregon, for their liberal subscriptions to the stock of the Board of Finance; The newspaper press, for the aid rendered the Commission in its work; Appointing a committee to lay before the Governors of States about to assemble in convention at Augusta, Ga., the objects of the Commission; Instructing the Executive Committee to require of persons intending to exhibit an estimate of the space they would require; * The (fourth) report of the Executive Committee is printed in the Appendix to the Journal of the fourth session, pp. 3–36. † See (first) report of the Temporary Secretary, Appendix to Journal of fourth session, pp. 36-40. For the work of the Committee on Plans and Architecture, see report of the Director-General, p. 29. I See Appen lix to Journal of fourth session, p. 50. Authorizing the Executive Committee to deliver to the Board of Finance all stock Abstract of subscription books and papers and records pertaining thereto; Journal. Directing the Committee on Tariff and Transportation to arrange with railway and 4th Session. steamship companies for reduced rates of fare for visitors to the Exhibition, and to aid them in finding boarding and lodging while in Philadelphia; Requesting the Executive Committee to take measures to insure participation in the Exhibition by China, Japan, and other Oriental nations. Amendments were made to the By-Laws. The resolution (May 28, 1872) creating the office of Executive Commissioner was repealed. The Executive Committee was given, by an additional by-law, "authority to elect one of its own members, who shall le known and recognized as Director-General,' whose office shall be at the headquarters of the Commission in Philadelphia, and whose duties, powers, and compensation shall be fixed by the said committee." The Executive Committee reported its election of Mr. Alfred T. Goshorn, of Ohio, as Director-General. Mr. John L. Campbell, of Indiana, was elected Secretary of the Commission. [Upon Mr. Campbell's request, Mr. Lewis Waln Smith was desired to continue in control of the office for a few weeks, until Mr. Campbell could arrange to remove to Philadelphia.] FIFTH SESSION. MAY 20-22, 1874. The Commission heard and adopted reports from The Executive Committee, stating that during the year previous it had held monthly sessions; that the formal transfer of the Exhibition grounds had been made to the Centennial Commission (July 4, 1873) in the presence of representatives of the National Government, who had thereupon made public the proclamation of the President of the United States commending the Exhibition to all nations; explaining the embarrassments which arose from the Secretary of State's construing the terms of the proclamation and of the Act of Congress as not warranting an invitation to foreign persons in the name of the Government, thus destroying the International feature of the Exhibition, and necessitating the introduction in Congress of an Act, then pending, in which the President was "requested to extend, in the name of the United States, a respectful and cordial invitation to the Governments of other nations to be represented and take part in the International Exhibition;" relating that the labors of the Centennial Board of Finance to procure subscriptions to its stock had been frustrated by the financial panics prevalent throughout the country since the autumn of 1873, so that the Board found it necessary to advise the Commission (February 14, 1874) that without Congressional aid the Board would not be warranted in making contracts for the erection of buildings; that the need of governmental aid had been set forth in a report to the President (February 23, 1874), who had transmitted the same to Congress with a message strongly recommending an appropriation (February 25, 1874), and that a bill appropriating $3,000,000 had been introduced in the House of Representatives (April 16, 1874), where it was still pending; communicating the reports of Messrs. Blake and Pettit, agents of the Commission, upon the organization of the International Exhibition at Vienna in 1873, also the report of The Director-General, giving an outline of the progress made in organizing the several departments of the Exhibition since assuming the duties of his office (October 14, 1873); the measures taken to interest foreign powers and the people of this country in the Exhibition, and to establish co-operative organizations in all the States and Territories; 5th Session. Abstract of 5th Session. mentioning that the President, by Executive order, had appointed a Board representing each of the Executive Departments of the Government, which was charged with the preparation of a collective exhibition on behalf of the Government; transmitting the report of the consulting engineer upon the progress of the plans of the Exhibition buildings; and one from the Secretary of the Board of Finance showing the financial status of the Exhibition;* The Secretary, describing the work done in the office of the Commission from the time of his entering upon his duties (June, 1873),—the examination of plans submitted for the Exhibition buildings and award of premiums to the successful architects; the collection of information about International Exhibitions; the popularizing of the Centennial Celebration and Exhibition by means of newspaper articles, circulars, pamphlets, etc.; official and general correspondence; and enumerating the changes in the membership of the Commission since its previous session;† The Committee on Classification, recording the previous action of the Commission on the subject; describing in detail the system adopted, and comparing it with other systems.‡ An invitation was accepted to visit the Exhibition of the American Institute in New York, in September, 1874. Resolutions were passed as follows: Adopting a Memorial to Congress, signed by the President, Director-General, and Secretary, setting forth the necessity of immediate governmental aid; Acknowledging the liberal subscriptions in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania; Acknowledging co-operative action by the California and the National Granges of the Patrons of Husbandry and the Society of California Pioneers; Acknowledging the labors of the Women's Centennial Executive Committee throughout the States and Territories; Thanking Mr. D. M. Boyd, Jr., for favors procured from railroad companies; Accepting proposals to erect memorial statues and fountains, offered by the Catholic Total Abstinence Union, the (Italian) Christopher Columbus Association, and the (Hebrew) Order of B'nai B'rith; Requesting the Governors of States and Territories to appoint Boards of Centennial Managers, in cases where the Legislatures had failed to do so; Authorizing the Executive Committee to modify the plans for the Main Exhibition Building, and decide, with the Board of Finance, upon their adoption; also to dissolve the Committee on Plans and Architecture. 6th Session. SIXTH SESSION. The Commission heard and adopted reports from The Executive Committee, relating the passage by Congress and approval (June 5, 1874) of the Act requesting the President to formally invite foreign powers to take part in the Exhibition; the submission of a report to the President (January 20, 1875), detailing the preparations for the Exhibition, and setting forth the need of governmental aid to the * The Reports of the Executive Committee and Director-General, with other documents above referred to, are printed in full in the Appendix to the Journal of the fifth session, pp. 1–27. †The Secretary's report is printed in the Appendix to the Journal of the fifth session, pp. 28-30. See Appendix to Journal of fifth session, pp. 31-47. |