EXECUTIVE MANSION, _Washington, June 9, 1884_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_
I transmit herewith, for the consideration of Congress, a letter and
its accompanying estimate, submitted by the board charged with preparing
a departmental exhibit for the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial
Exposition to be held at New Orleans, beginning December 1, 1884.
This board was appointed by Executive order of May 13, 1884,[17] and
is composed of representatives of the several Executive Departments,
the Department of Agriculture, and the Smithsonian Institution. It is
charged with the important and responsible duty of making arrangements
for a complete and harmonious collection of the articles and materials
deemed desirable to place on exhibition, in illustration of the
resources of the country, its methods of governmental administration,
and its means of offense and defense.
The board submits an estimate calling for an appropriation of
$588,000 to accomplish the desired end. That amount is distributed
among the Departments as shown in the table. The War, Navy, and Interior
Departments call for the largest share, representing as they do the
national defenses by land and sea, the progress of naval architecture
and ordnance, the geological survey and mineral wealth of the
Territories, the treatment of the Indians, and the education of the
masses, all of which admit of varied and instructive exhibits. The
Smithsonian Institution, having under its general care the National
Museum and the Fish Commission, is prepared to make a display second
in interest to none of modern days. The remaining Departments can
present instructive and interesting exhibits, which will attract popular
attention and convey an idea of their extensively ramified duties and of
the many points where they beneficially affect the life of the people as
a nation and as individuals.
The exhibit of the Government at the Centennial Exhibition held at
Philadelphia in 1876 was admitted to be one of the most attractive
features of that great national undertaking and a valuable addition to
it. From men of intelligence and scientific attainments, at home and
abroad, it received the highest encomiums, showing the interest it
awakened among those whose lives are given to the improvement of the
social and material condition of the people.
The reproduction of such a display now on a more extensive plan is
rendered possible by the advancement of science and invention during
the eight years that have passed since the Philadelphia exhibit was
collected.
The importance, purposes, and benefits of the New Orleans Exhibition
are continental in their scope. Standing at the threshold of the almost
unopened markets of Spanish and Portuguese America, New Orleans is a
natural gateway to their trade, and the exhibition offers to the people
of Mexico and Central and South America an adequate knowledge of our
farming implements, metal manufactures, cotton and woolen goods, and the
like necessities of existence, in respect to which those countries are
either deficient or supplied to a limited extent. The breaking down of
the barriers which still separate us from the Republics of America whose
productions so entirely complement our own will aid greatly in removing
the disparity of commercial intercourse under which less than 10 per
cent of our exports go to American countries.
I trust that Congress will realize the urgency of this recommendation
and make its appropriation immediately available, so that the board may
lose no time in undertaking the extensive preparations necessary to
spread a more intimate knowledge of our Government institutions and
national resources among the people of our country and of neighboring
states in a way to command the respect due it in the family of nations.