So grand a subject, one so closely connected with the spiritual welfare of the race, may Official Forms, well become the theme of Heaven-inspired eloquence from every pulpit in the land,—not in mere passing reference, but in exhaustive presentation of the endless catalogue of reasons in favor of carrying out the duly enrolled fiat of the national will, as expressed through the Acts of Congress. The nation stands committed to the project before the world. Retraction now would be a ludicrous and disgraceful failure of the Great Republic, which assumes to lead the vanguard of progress, to do what England, France, Germany, and other powers have done, and what Austria is just about to do for the instruction and entertainment of mankind, and that, too, after having declared our purpose to do it, and to do it on a grander scale than any of our predecessors. We believe that no thought of failure is tolerated in any patriotic mind, or in any heart that has a spark of national pride. Yet many are displaying an apathy and procrastination, which, if not corrected, would prove fatal to that supreme success which alone will comport with the prestige and dignity of the nation. It is simply because they have no correct idea of the importance of time as the first essential of success. The success or failure of this undertaking is before the people, dependent entirely upon the deliberate decision which their action, in regard to subscriptions, will constitute. The National Commission selected by the Governors, and appointed and confirmed by the General Government, are powerless to proceed further than they have done until the voice of the people proclaims to them, through the subscription-books, that the necessary capital is sufficiently assured to warrant them in erecting the buildings and perfecting the arrangements for inviting foreign exhibitors. Here it is that the importance of time for preparation after the decision of the people is known becomes apparent. It is no less essential than money. Foreign nations must have time to consider and act upon the invitation, and, in many cases, to await the action of their legislative assemblies before deciding, organizing their commissions, and making the necessary appropriations; and if they do not have ample time, they cannot be expected to accept. They cannot be invited or notified by the President of the United States until, according to the terms of the Act of Congress, the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania shall have informed him that provision has been made for the erection of suitable buildings for the purposes of the Exhibition. Foreign countries and our own country have to be canvassed, and the people informed of the nature of the Exhibition. Careful selections must be made from articles representing every industry and resource. Ample time will be required for the production of works of art and large machinery, and many other articles which impart splendor and instructive ness to such exhibitions. Besides the consumption of time in the transportation of articles from abroad, much will be consumed in the erection of the vast buildings, and the arrangement of the goods in them. The inclosed printed papers contain information as to the organization of the Centennial Board of Finance, and the general purposes of the Exhibition. Your attention to the subject, in all its bearings upon the temporal and spiritual welfare of the people, is most respectfully invited. By order of the Executive Committee of the United States Centennial Commission. WILLIAM P. BLAKE, Executive Commissioner. DANIEL J. MORRELL, Pennsylvania, Chairman. JOHN V. L. PRUYN, New York. JAMES T. EARLE, Maryland. Executive Committee. 1873. Official Forms, 1873 [No. 33-] OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES CENTENNIAL COMMISSION, TO THE OFFICERS AND TEACHERS IN THE UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES, The United States Centennial Commissioners, in the execution of the trust committed to them, desire to direct the attention of Officers and Teachers in Universities, Colleges, and Schools to the relations which the proposed International Exhibition must sustain to the educational interests of our country. The plan adopted embraces the presentation of the arts and industries of the world in such a way that the best facilities will be afforded for careful analysis and generalization. "These simultaneous views of the condition of the whole globe as to material arts" are useful beyond computation, not only to industrial development, but also to scientific and literary progress. The classification embraces Ten Departments:* I. Raw materials-Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal. II. Materials and Manufactures used for Food, or in the Arts, the result of Extractive III. Textile and Felted Fabrics; Apparel, Costumes, and Ornaments for the Person. V. Tools, Implements, Machines, and Processes. VI. Motors and Transportation. VII. Apparatus and Methods for the increase and diffusion of knowledge. VIII. Engineering, Public Works, Architecture, etc. IX. Plastic and Graphic Arts. X. Objects illustrating efforts for the improvement of the Physical, Intellectual, and The departments will be divided into groups and classes, to facilitate the arrangement and display of the various articles placed on exhibition. If the ideal be in any degree realized, the attractions of the place will bring together learned and scientific men from all parts of the world, and not the least of the good results of the Exhibition will be the interchange of thought. Dr. Whewell characterized the London Exhibition as "the great university of 1851." Sir David Brewster said, in speaking on the same subject, "I am persuaded that the Exhibition will exercise the most salutary influence, in so far as it will turn the attention of the influential classes of society to the vast national importance of encouraging science and the arts, by placing the men who advance them in a better position than they have hitherto occupied in this country." The Centennial Commission makes a special appeal to our citizens of liberal culture to assist in making the International Exhibition of 1876 more successful than any of the previous Expositions of the world. As opportunity may offer, we ask that, by lectures and correspondence, you will assist in commending the great enterprise as worthy of confidence and support. In behalf of the United States Centennial Commission. JOS. R. HAWLEY, President of the United States Centennial Commission. LEWIS WALN SMITH, Temporary Secretary of the United States Centennial Commission. * For these ten Departments seven were ultimately substituted. See Form No. 104, page 60. Forms, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES CENTENNIAL COMMISSION, PHILADELPHIA, 1873. TO THE SCIENTIFIC, INDUSTRIAL, AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS The Anniversary of the Independence of the United States in the year 1876 is to be celebrated by an Exhibition of the products, arts, and industries of the country, and of the world. This is in accordance with an Act of Congress approved March 3, 1871. By this Act the task of preparing and superintending the Exhibition was imposed upon the United States Centennial Commission, consisting of two members from each of the States and Territories. The Commissioners have three times met in general session, a permanent organization has been effected, and the chief outlines of the plan for the Exhibition have been agreed upon. This Exhibition is to be international and universal,-international inasmuch as all nations will be invited to participate in it; and universal, because it will include a representation of all natural and artificial products, all arts, industries, and manufactures, and all the varied results of human skill, thought, and imagination. The outlines of a simple yet comprehensive classification have been adopted. There will be ten departments, each subdivided in ten groups, and these again into classes.* The details of this classification are now being elaborated, and will be published in due season, together with such rules and regulations as may be found necessary for the proper conduct and management of the Exhibition. It is intended that ample space shall be assigned to each State, Territory, and foreign country, for a just and proper display of their products. It is believed that not less than fifty square acres of floor space, under roof, will be required for this purpose. A site combining the advantages of a sufficient extent of level ground, with picturesque and cultivated surroundings, easy of access by rail, water, and by ordinary roads, has been assigned for the buildings and grounds at Fairmount Park, in the City of Philadelphia. The Exhibition will open in April, and close in October.† Each State of the Union will be expected to send its peculiar products, illustrating its resources, both developed and undeveloped. A complete exhibition of this kind by all the States will afford the means of comparing their industrial condition and capabilities. The products of mining and of agriculture will occupy a large portion of the space allotted to each State, and will receive their just share of attention in this universal display. An undertaking so patriotic in its conception, so vast in its proportions, and so useful in its results commends itself to the hearty sympathy and support of an intelligent people. Patriotism, as well as an appreciation of the industrial, educational, and moral influences of well-organized exhibitions, should impel all citizens to lend a helping hand. It is the duty of the Commission to prepare the way and open the doors, but the people, in their sovereign right and strength, must make the Exhibition. By their aid alone can it be made a just and comprehensive display of the industrial, intellectual, and moral development of the Nation during the first century of its existence. The Commission not only relies with confidence upon the aid of the people in general, but it hopes to receive the co-operation of the scientific, industrial, and commercial organizations of the country, and particularly of those which have aided in directing and realizing the popular demand for agricultural and industrial exhibitions. JOSEPH R. HAWLEY, President of the Commission. LEWIS WALN SMITH, Temporary Secretary. 1873. * See last reference. Subsequently modified. The Exhibition opened May 10, and closed November 10. Official Forms, 1873. CIRCULAR LETTER TO CENTENNIAL COMMISSIONERS. OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES CENTENNIAL COMMISSION, United States Centennial Commissioner, etc., etc. DEAR SIR, The President of the Commission directs me to ask your attention to the following extracts from the proceedings of the last meeting of the Commission, in relation to the appointment of a Committee to visit Vienna: 66 Resolved, That the President of this Commission is hereby authorized to appoint a Committee to represent the United States Centennial Commission at the Exposition to be held in the city of Vienna, in May next, the said Committee to report to this Commission. "Provided, That it shall be no expense to the Commission." (Journal, p. 205.) General Hawley proposes to appoint upon the Committee every member of the Commission who may be going to Vienna next summer, as it is important that the Commission should be well represented there; and the appointment, though conferring no pecuniary benefit, will undoubtedly command some facilities that would not be granted to a mere visitor. Will you please inform me at your earliest convenience whether or not it is your desire to visit the Vienna Exhibition as a member of such a Committee, and if so, at what time? Very respectfully, your obedient servant, WILLIAM P. BLAKE Executive Commissioner. [No. 38.] SPECIFICATIONS FOR DESIGN FOR CERTIFICATE OF STOCK. UNITED STATES CENTENNIAL COMMISSION, Desiring to elicit competent artistic talent and skill in the production of a design for an engraving on steel of a form of certificate of stock of the Centennial Board of Finance, the United States Centennial Commission invite a fair competition of those designers and artists who may be disposed to make the effort to gain the honor and reward which will be accorded to the successful competitor. The sum of five hundred dollars in currency will be paid to the person whose design may be accepted. Those who are not successful will have no claim to compensation for their labor, but honorable mention will be made of those designs according to the order of merit which they exhibit. Should any part of a design, the whole of which is not taken, be desired for use, a special proposal will be made to the designer, giving the terms upon which such part will be taken. The selection and decision will be made by the Executive Committee of this Commission during the month of May, 1873. The outside dimensions of the design, exclusive of margin, will be sixteen by eleven inches. It may be freely sketched in India ink or pencil or in pen drawing. The latter is considered preferable. If that form is adopted, it would be preferred that the design should be drawn on a larger scale, preserving the same relative dimensions, so that the work may be reproduced by the Heliotype or some other photo-engraving process, in which process the reduction may be made photographically. No colors should be used in the design, and if reproduction by photographic engraving is to be adopted, all shadings should be made by lines or etching, and not by tints. The designs should be illustrative of the progress of the United States in the peaceful Official arts and sciences,-Agriculture, Manufactures, Commerce, the development of the coun- Forms, try during the century, and those triumphs of physical science which enable man to master and use the forces of nature. They should also symbolize the freedom and representative character of our institutions. Open space must be left, amounting to about one-fourth of the area to be covered by the design, for the insertion of the wording of the certificate and the signatures of the President and Secretary of the Centennial Board of Finance. The lettering will, however, be subordinated as much as possible to the artistic requirements of the design. The designs should be forwarded to the office of United States Centennial Commission, No. 904 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, as early as the first of May next. 1873. In accordance with the Act of Congress, approved June 1, 1872, the United States Centennial Commission hereby issue a call for a meeting of the Corporators, and all others who may then have subscribed for Stock of the Centennial Board of Finance, to be held IN CONCERT HALL, on the north side of Chestnut Street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth Streets, in the City of Philadelphia, aforesaid, on the 22d day of April next, at 12 o'clock, noon, for the purpose of electing a board of directors, to consist of twenty-five stockholders, whose term of office shall be one year, and until their successors shall have been qualified as prescribed in said act. |