. Doc. 8 GOVERNMENT COLLECTION AT CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. LETTERS OF PROFESSORS HENRY AND BAIRD ACCOMPANYING THE ANNUAL MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, To His Excellency THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Whereas the members of the National Academy of Sciences have been greatly impressed by the extent, rarity, and richness of the truly national collection contained in the Government building at the Centennial Exhibition, and considering the great importance and lasting interest with which the people of the United States must regard this collection: Therefore, Resolved, That in the opinion of the Academy the Government collection as a whole should be transferred to Washington, and there preserved in an appropriate building for perpetual exhibition. Resolved, That the Academy entertains the hope that the President of the United States will favor the foregoing proposition; that he will delay the dispersion of the exhibit from the several Executive Departments until Congress has assembled, and that he will recommend to that body to provide for the transfer of the Government collection to the city of Washington, and for its subsequent permanent support. In transmitting these resolutions to your excellency, I beg leave, in favor of the proposition, to suggest, first, that the exhibit would form a fitting memorial of the centennial condition of the country; second, that it would illustrate in a striking manner the appliances used by the Government in carrying on its various and complex operations; third, that it would be a repository in which the natural resources of each State Would be exhibited; fourth, that it would give information, in one view, of importance to the statesman, legislator, scientist, educator, and the capitalist of our own and of foreign countries; fifth, it would be of interest to the intelligent public at large, and would meet the approbation of all who regard the prosperity of the country and take pride in the condition of the national capital. In conclusion, it may not perhaps be improper to remark that I do not advocate this proposition for the purpose of extending the power and influence of the Smithsonian Institution. On the contrary, I think the exhibit should be made a truly national one, and be immediately under the control of the Government. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, President National Academy of Sciences. INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION, 1876, UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILDING, West Philadelphia, November 23, 1876. SIR: I would respectfully suggest that, in connection with the steps which the President proposes to take for the purpose of securing au thority and means from Congress to keep together all the exhibits of the Government now in its building at the Centennial, and to display them suitably in the city of Washington, his attention be invited to the enormous mass, and great economical and industrial value, of the immense donations made to the United States Government by the com. missioners of nearly all the foreign countries represented at the International Exhibition. These consist, in many cases, of nearly the entire exhibits of the coun tries referred to, so far as they relate to the resources of the respective nations, derived from the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, together with many series illustrating the peculiar habits and character istics of the people, especially of China, Siam, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Since the close of the exhibition, the Smithsonian Institution and the Department of Agriculture have been busily engaged, with a large force, in transferring the collections referred to from the different buildings of the commission to that belonging to the Government, and weeks must elapse before this will be finished. The countries that have, so far, made contributions of more or less magnitude are, the Argentine Confederation, Austria, Brazil, Chili. China, Egypt, Germany, the Sandwich Islands, Japan, Mexico, Nether lands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunis, Great Britain, Bermuda, Canada, New South Wales, New Zea land, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Venezuela: while several others have promised contributions, but have not yet taken the necessary steps toward turning them over. The value of these collections to the people of the United States cannot be overestimated, consisting, as they do, of many varieties of ores and minerals, specimens of animal products and materials from the vegetable kingdom, including also the stages of their manufacture and the finished products, as well as, in many cases, the apparatus by which these results are accomplished. Thus nearly all the known varieties of the ores of silver, gold, mercury, iron, copper, lead, tin, zine, nickel, cobalt, antimony, &c., are represented, with the furnaceproducts accompanying them, and the resulting metal; the brick, tile, and pottery, earth and clays of China, Japan, France, Belgium, Great Britain, and Australia, in many cases accompanied by careful analy sis of their composition and numerous illustrative specimens of their products, building-stones, marbles, &c., specimens of artificial stone, mortars, and cements, with the materials producing them, and samples of coals from hundreds of different localities. Among illustrations of products from the animal industries may be mentioned specimens of leathers from all parts of the world, and from every imaginable form of animal; wools, graded by their different qualities and applications and prices; furs of various species of animals of Europe, Asia, and Australia; and preparations of Russian isinglass, glues, and gelatines in immense variety. The wealth of vegetable material is incalculable; embracing, as it does, the magnificent displays of Brazil, the Argentine Confederation, Australia, Netherlands, and other countries that have excited so much attention during the Exhibition. Among the individual objects may be enumerated samples of the woods of thousands of species of trees, fibers of all kinds, including material for paper and textile fabrics, objects of the materia medica, gums, dye-stuffs, materials for tanning, seeds of every variety of the grains, hemp, flax, cotton, ramie, tobacco, coffee, cocoa, &c., many of them at present new to the United States, and giving promise of successful introduction therein, these having been received, in large part, in quantity sufficient for distribution, Russia alone supplying more than two hundred bushels of seeds of every best variety of hemp, oats, wheat, barley, &c. A large amount of material illustrating the habits and customs of other nations has also been received. Notably among these objects may be mentioned the entire exhibit of the King of Siam and that of the commissioners of customs of China. Both of these collections present an exhaustive illustration of the mode of life, habits, and characteristics of the people. Many important collections of educational apparatus and objects have also been presented. The navy department of Russia has furnished samples of cordage, wire rope, chain cable, iron forgings, &c, The various objects thus presented are now being transferred to the Government building and turned over to the respective departments to which they are most appropriate, and by which they would naturally be exhibited in connection with any systematic display that might be authorized by Congress. It is proper to state that the utmost eagerness has been manifested by the representatives of technical, industrial, and educational institutions in the United States in gathering objects of the kind in question, and that in very great part they were prevented from accomplishing their object by the information that the entire exhibits had been presented to the United States, and that application should be made to its representatives for any desiderata. It has been impossible, however, to make any selections with this object, as the time of those concerned has been fully occupied in packing and removing the collections. It will, however, be possible to make up from the duplicate material a considerable number of sets of these various substances for distribution to such establishments as Congress may direct, whenever the means are furnished for the purpose. I need hardly say that some provision must be made to meet the expense of removing these articles to Washington and of exhibiting them there. When, however, it is borne in mind that such a collection as bas thas been presented to the United States could not be reproduced in a long period of years without the expenditure of a large sum of money, and that it has been spontaneously offered to the people of the United States, it is quite reasonable to hope that Congress will take the steps necessary to make it available to the country, with all the benefits likely to result from the display of a portion of the same, and the distribution of its duplicates. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Representative Smithsonian Food-Fishes Department. SPENCER F. BAIRD, Col. S. C. LYFORD, Chairman Board of Executive Departments. |