Pan-American Exposition

“ That exposition is intended to be the most important and comprehensive of the long series of international exhibitions, of which our own at Chicago was a brilliant example, and it is desirable that the United States should make a worthy exhibit of American genius and skill and their unrivaled achievements in every branch of industry. ”

“ The Columbian World’s Exposition will be international because it will hospitably welcome and entertain the people and the products of every nation in the world. It will give to them the fullest opportunity to teach us, and learn from us, and to open new avenues of trade with our markets, and discover materials which will be valuable in theirs. But its creation, its magnitude, its location, its architecture, and its striking and enduring features will be American. The city in which it is held, taking rank among the first cities in the world after an existence of only fifty years, is American. ”

“ Special classes derived each a peculiar benefit. Mechanical invention was stimulated. Art received an impetus which can never cease to be felt. To our household art, especially, came much quickening from the sight of England’s beautiful display of home decorations.
The Exposition exalted the United States in the eyes of her foreign guests. Many were amazed at such proofs of the wealth, intelligence, and progressive spirit of the great republic. A correspondent of the London Times wrote, in 1876: “The American invents as the Greek sculptured and the Italian painted; it is genius.” ”

“ The international exhibition held in Philadelphia this year, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of American independence, has proven a great success, and will, no doubt, be of enduring advantage to the country. ”

“ It was proper, therefore, that our State, in its dignity, with its conservatism and with its intense patriotism, should be among the first to contribute of its means to make of this Exposition the grand success which it promises. With each succeeding international exposition the world becomes wiser, artisans more skillful, the contributions to science and art more valuable; in a word, they raise the standard of civilization and hasten the time when all men shall pay homage to the ruler of the universe. ”

“ New York is here to-day by its official representatives to testify first to its loyalty to the purposes for which this Exposition was conceived; to show the people of the West that in their progress we are interested, and that to them we look for such returns in dividends upon the stock of patriotism as will give to our nation men of energy, of right impulses. To you we owe much, and from you we expect much. Our efforts will be to aid you in every laudable undertaking, to stand behind you in all that means the prosperity of our common country. ”

“ Suffice it now to say that it manifests itself in countless forms: in municipal improvements of the kind of which the Cleveland center is, perhaps, the best example in the country; in architecture of all classes; in household furniture and decoration; in the tendency of art museums to realize that modern American paintings are the finest modern paintings obtainable in the world to-day; in the tendency of private art collectors not to buy quite so much rubbish as they have bought in the past; in the Panama-Pacific Exposition, which will be the most beautiful exposition anybody ever saw ”

“ Upon this site we expect to erect a handsome and commodious structure where New Yorkers may meet one another during the Exposition, and where they may welcome their fellow citizens from every section of our common country. New York is also desirous of having exhibited here upon these spacious grounds the evidences of her prestige in the domain of manufacture, of commerce, of agriculture, of science and of art.
"The American people are progressive. The indomitable courage and ambition of the American knows no cessation of effort, no lagging behind. ”

“ The States carved out of that great Empire have all borne their share in the heat of our national life and they have contributed immeasurably to the nation's growth and development, and we have come in this country, notwithstanding the immense separation and diversity of interests, to work together under one flag, with one interest for a common country, and this great Exposition should teach not only us of the East but of all other sections of the country that we should avoid the danger of finding ourselves separate in sentiment from one another. ”

“ The industrial exhibitions which have been held in the United States during the present year attracted attention in many foreign countries, where the announcement of those enterprises had been made public through the foreign agencies of this Government. The Industrial Exhibition at Boston and the Southern Exposition at Louisville were largely attended by the exhibitors of foreign countries, notwithstanding the absence of any professed national character in those undertakings. ”

“ It is eminently fitting that all our people should join with heartiest good will in commemorating it, and the citizens of St. Louis, of Missouri, of all the adjacent region, are entitled to every aid in making the celebration a noteworthy event in our annals. We earnestly hope that foreign nations will appreciate the deep interest our country takes in this Exposition, and our view of its importance from every standpoint, and that they will participate in securing its success. The National Government should be represented by a full and complete set of exhibits. ”

“ It has been long perceived that great mutual advantage would result to different nations, and an immense total gain to civilization, by bringing into close comparison the best that each community has to offer in the way of artistic and industrial productions. England, France, and Austria, have instituted international exhibitions, and invited the coöperation of the world to make them in the highest degree instructive. Why should the United States not join in this generous rivalry, and make an International Exposition the chief feature of its Centennial Celebration? ”

“ In this great western empire we all take a common interest, and the success of this Exposition redounds to the credit and honor, not only of the men who have carried it to such successful issue, but upon the whole country. ”

“ The useful and the beautiful, the products of skill and of industry, of the studio, the factory, the field and the mart, are here blended happily together, for the inspection of the curious and the study of the thoughtful. Such exhibitions are of the greatest value to all classes of the people. They instruct and inspire. They suggest new ideas. They diffuse a better knowledge of the natural resources of the country, and of the methods, industries and progress of its people. The Exposition, therefore, needs no orator. It speaks for itself. It is its own advocate and eulogist. ”

“ Democrats, one hundred and twenty-five Republicans, and eleven
Populists.
Early on the opening day of the Exposition, May 1, 1893, the Chief
Magistrate of the nation sat beside Columbus's descendant, the Duke of
Veragua. Patient multitudes were waiting for the gates of Jackson Park
to swing. "It only remains for you, Mr. President," said the
Director-General, concluding his address, "if in your opinion the
Exposition here presented is commensurate in dignity with what the world
should expect of our great country, to direct that it shall be opened to
the public. ”

“ The World's Industrial Exposition, held at New Orleans last winter, with the assistance of the Federal Government, attracted a large number of foreign exhibits, and proved of great value in spreading among the concourse of visitors from Mexico and Central and South America a wider knowledge of the varied manufactures and productions of this country and their availability in exchange for the productions of those regions. ”

“ The Exposition management has already pointed with pride to the New York building, the social functions of which have been among the marked attractions of the Exposition.
"I am here to thank New York not only for her material contribution to the World's Fair, but for the spirit her citizens have given to this Exposition.
"We of the West flatter ourselves that we have arrived at that stage of our progress when we can invite every people on the globe to come and see for themselves what a century of Western civilization has accomplished." ”

“ There is still much of the popular conception abroad that the West has only very recently emerged from a state of semi-civilization inimical to the finer things of life, and to art in particular. But we may rest assured that the fortunate outsider who allows himself the luxury of travel will proclaim that the gospel of beauty has been preached most eloquently through the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. ”

“ However that may be, the industrial competition to which, in the last analysis, the Exposition owes its inception, is pushing many aside from the beaten highways into hitherto unexplored regions of thought and endeavor, and who is to say that we may not in consequence find a direction quite at right angles to all of our wonted ways of thinking. Certainly there could be no more fitting occasion for the launching of a new thought-form than a great international exposition. ”

“ The display from different countries is very unequal, even in proportion: Old England is of course here in her might; France has a vast collection, especially of articles appealing to taste or fancy; but Germany and the rest of the Continent have less than I expected to see; and the show from the United States disappoints many by its alleged meagerness. I do not view it in the same light, nor regret, with a New-York merchant whom I met in the Fair to-day, that Congress did not appropriate $100,000 to secure a full and commanding exhibition of American products at this Fair. ”

“ A leading journal of San Francisco, advocating the desire that the Californian exhibit should be made a permanent one, proceeded to point the moral and adorn the tale by pointing to the Canadian exhibition. The editorial argument thus ran:
"Canada, with her complete exhibit, has won much praise from Exposition sightseers and has set the precedent for a permanent exhibit. ”

“ We are here to-day to dedicate a building which represents the interest of New York State in this great Exposition. Here, during the period when thousands shall visit these grounds, those who owe allegiance to the Empire State will find a place which will typify to them their home and impress them, let us hope, to a greater degree with the vastness of our State and of the position which it occupies in our commonwealth of nations. ”

“ The citizens of New York extend their congratulations to the people of the west and northwest. We hope that from this great Exposition there shall come a closer communication between all the people of the earth, a broadening of human effort, the advancement of civilization and a growing respect for our country and our flag which will make us a power for the good and peace of the world. ”

“ The extraordinary increase of exportations from this country during the past three years and the activity with which our inventions and wares had invaded new markets caused much interest to center upon the American exhibit, and every encouragement was offered in the way of space and facilities to permit of its being comprehensive as a whole and complete in every part.
It was, however, not an easy task to assemble exhibits that could fitly illustrate our diversified resources and manufactures. Singularly enough, our national prosperity lessened the incentive to exhibit. ”

“ In consequence of political causes, France had seldom made contributions to any but her own expositions. But the United States, not fostering hostility with any nation, was universally assisted in her gigantic enterprise. In fact, it would require volumes to describe in detail this elaborate display, whose prominent part—the home exhibits—verified Irving's words: "In America literature and the elegant arts must grow up side by side with the coarser plants of daily necessity." ”

“ Indeed, the Americans, as far as appearance goes, are behind every other country in the Exhibition. The "Greek Slave" is the only production of art which the United States has sent. And it would have been more to their credit had they kept that at home. In so vast a place as the Great Exhibition one scarcely knows what to visit first, or what to look upon last. ”

“ I thank you for sending me a copy of your address delivered at the Atlanta Exposition.
I thank you with much enthusiasm for making the address. I have read it with intense interest, and I think the Exposition would be fully justified if it did not do more than furnish the opportunity for its delivery. Your words cannot fail to delight and encourage all who wish well for your race; and if our coloured fellow-citizens do not from your utterances gather new hope and form new determinations to gain every valuable advantage offered them by their citizenship, it will be strange indeed. ”

“ From the novelty of the foreign display the American visitor returned proudly to the display made by his own land. Textiles, metal work, arms and tools, musical instruments, watches, carriages, cutlery, books, and furniture—a bewildering array of all things useful and ornamental—made Americans realize as never before the wealth, intelligence, and enterprise of their native country and the proud station she had taken among the nations of earth. ”