194 



CONGKESS, UNITED STATES. 



the Committee on the Centennial Celebration 

 to report the bill which I send to the Clerk's 

 desk, and to move that the bill and report be 

 printed and referred to the Committee of the 

 Whole on the state of the Union." 



The preamble of the bill states that by an 

 act of Congress entitled " An act to provide 

 for the celebrating of the one hundredth anni- 

 versary of American independence by holding 

 an international exposition of arts, manufact- 

 ures, and products of the soil and mines in 

 the city of Philadelphia and State of Pennsyl- 

 vania in 1876," approved March 3, 1871, pro- 

 vision was made for the celebration of the cen- 

 tennial anniversary of the Declaration of 

 American Independence by an exhibition of 

 American and foreign arts, products, and man- 

 ufactures, to be held under the auspices of 

 the Government of the United States, in the 

 city of Philadelphia, in the year 1876; that by 

 an act of Congress entitled "An act relative 

 to the centennial international exhibition to 

 be held in the city of Philadelphia, State of 

 Pennsylvania, in the year 1876," approved 

 June 1, 1872, the centennial board of finance 

 was incorporated, with authority to raise the 

 capital necessary to carry into effect the pro- 

 visions of the said act of March 3, 1871 ; that 

 the President of the United States, in com- 

 pliance with a joint resolution of Congress ap- 

 proved June 5, 1874, did extend, in the name 

 of the United States, a respectful and cordial 

 invitation to the governments of other nations 

 to be represented and to take part in the inter- 

 national exposition to be held at Philadelphia 

 under the auspices of the Government of the 

 United States, and the governments so invited, 

 to the number of thirty-eight, have accepted 

 such invitation, and many of them are making 

 extensive preparations to embrace the cour- 

 tesies so extended to them, thereby rendering 

 proper arrangements for the coming cere- 

 monies on the part of the Government of the 

 United States a matter of honor and good 

 faith ; and that the preparations designed by 

 the United States Centennial Commission, and 

 in part accepted by the centennial board of 

 finance, are in accordance with the spirit of 

 acts of Congress relating thereto, and are on a 

 scale creditable to the Government and people 

 of the United States. 



The bill appropriates the sum of $1,500,000 

 for completing the centennial buildings and 

 other preparations, which shall be paid on the 

 drafts of the president and treasurer of the 

 centennial board of finance, one-third imme- 

 diately after the passage of the act and the 

 remaining two-thirds in four equal monthly 

 parts, provided that in the distribution of any 

 moneys that may remain in the treasury of 

 the centennial board of finance after the pay- 

 ments of its debts, as provided for by the tenth 

 section of the act of Congress, and approved 

 June 1, 1872, incorporating said centennial 

 board of finance, the appropriation herein 

 made shall share equally with the holders of 



the said centennial stock, and the like per- 

 centage be paid into the Treasury of the United 

 States as may be paid to the holders of said 

 stock ; and provided further that the Govern- 

 ment of the United States shall under no cir- 

 cumstance be liable for any debt or obligation 

 of the United States Centennial Commission 

 or centennial board of finance, or any payment 

 in addition to the foregoing sum. 



The bill with the accompanying report was 

 ordered to be printed and referred. 



Mr. Hopkins : " I move that the rules be sus- 

 pended, and that the House resolve itself into 

 Committee of the Whole on the state of the 

 Union." 



The motion was agreed to. 



The House accordingly resolved itself into 

 Committee of the Whole on the state of the 

 Union, Mr. Wood, of New York, in the chair, 

 and resumed the consideration of the Centen- 

 nial appropriation bill. 



On January 18th the bill was considered. 



Mr. Hopkins said : "Mr. Chairman, I do not 

 know that any argument is needed to secure 

 the passage of this bill; but, inasmuch as I am, 

 to some extent, intrusted with its advocacy, I 

 beg leave to submit some of the reasons which 

 I think not only justify but imperatively de- 

 mand the granting of this appropriation. 



" Our aid is invoked in behalf of an inter- 

 national exhibition conceived by patriotic men 

 as a fit way to commemorate the first centenary 

 of American Independence. This undertaking 

 was commenced when the busy hum of cheer- 

 ful industry echoed throughout the land, when 

 wealth and prosperity abounded in the North, 

 and returning cheerfulness illumed the hither- 

 to desolate South. But the storm of 1873 

 which swept over the country left its pathway 

 black with general ruin and universal gloom. 

 The wheels of industry stood still, trade be- 

 came lifeless, human energies were palsied 

 because confidence and hope were crushed. 

 From that day until this there has been no 

 break in the overhanging clouds. The enter- 

 prise under consideration, begun under such 

 happy auspices, could not escape the mildew 

 which blighted all things. Under adverse cir- 

 cumstances its officers and managers have 

 struggled on with unflagging zeal, untiring 

 energy, and recognized discretion and ability, 

 to complete the original designs in a manner 

 worthy of the grand event. The treasury of 

 the commission is almost empty ; individual 

 effort has been exhausted ; the centennial yeaf 

 has already dawned ; but a few months remain 

 until the exposition should be opened, and yet 

 the buildings are not completed. In this ex- 

 tremity the Government is asked to lend its 

 helping hand to save the undertaking from 

 failure and the country from disgrace. 



" If it can be shown that the national honor 

 is involved in the success of this exhibition, I 

 apprehend all opposition will be silenced and 

 this bill will receive a unanimous and cordial 

 support. Surely, no gentleman upon this floor 



