"Should the action of the government and of the producers of the United States be of the character briefly set forth, it is evident that no small space at the exhibition will be required; and we deem it necessary to remark that, in view of such action, the spaces occupied in the Expositions of 1851, 1855, and 1862, under entirely different influences, afford no proper basis of conclusion as to the allotment required in 1867. "Not having before us any estimate of the expenditures required for the participation of the United States in the manner proposed, we can hardly with propriety name any sum; but in our view of the urgent need of very prompt action, we deem it proper to say that it appears to us that not less than $300,000 should be placed at the command of the appropriate department, from which the commission would receive its powers and instructions, and to which it would make application for such funds as may be necessary to perform the work intrusted to them. "In this communication we have aimed to present, in a summary manner, the views which we have formed. Of course, very much remains to be considered and decided. "If in the future proceedings it is thought that we can be of service, we shall be happy to meet you and to render such aid as may be in our power. "For the advisory committee: An estimate of expenses was prepared in conformity with the above letter. Mr. Ruggles and Mr. McElrath, of our committee, repeatedly visited Washington to urge upon Congress the necessity for immediate action. They, with others, addressed public meetings and published articles in the papers of the day. It was not until the 5th of July last, more than a year after the attention of the government had been first called to the subject, that any appropriations were made, and those then made were quite inadequate in amount. The United States agency has therefore labored under disadvantages not experienced in other countries. The uncertainty which prevailed to some extent in Congress, in the peculiar condition, at a certain period, of our public relations with France, whether the United States would participate at all in the Exposition, and the consequent delay in the passage of the appropriation, rendered it impossible, at an early day, to arouse the national spirit to the extent that a different state of facts would, undoubtedly, have witnessed. Notwithstanding these untoward circumstances, a very considerable work has been done, and much more can be accomplished if immediate additional aid be rendered by Congress. The highest interests of the nation evidently demanded the utmost efforts of your committee to stimulate the country without delay, to a full exhibition of its products, notwithstanding any temporary inadequacy of the appropriations. They have proceeded under the conviction that Congress, when fully acquainted with the magnitude of the subject, and its consequent necessities, would make any necessary increase in the appropriations. At the meeting of the Advisory Committee, December 4, 1866, the respective chairmen of the ten (10) groups submitted full reports of what they had been able to accomplish up to that date. Mr. WILLIAM J. HOPPIN, Chairman of GROUP 1, embracing works of art, &c., reports as follows: A general invitation to participate in the exposition was extensively circulated through the newspapers, addressed to artists and others, and published suffi ciently early to enable them, if they desired to do so, to complete elaborate works for the purpose. The following gentlemen, residents of New York and Philadelphia, owners of extensive private galleries, and familiar with the condition of art in this country, constituted the committee to select works to be sent to Paris : Mr. Jonathan Sturges, New York; Mr. Sheppard Gandy, New York: They adopted the rule to accept, if possible, only the best things we have done since 1855, and this rule necessarily excluded some interesting and creditable works, which, if the competition were among ourselves, and not between the United States and foreign nations, would probably have been admitted. Want of space also compelled the exclusion of some valuable productions. It was determined to give great predominance to landscapes in our selection, because this was the department in which the American school of art has gained most distinction. In obedience to these rules, the art committee endeavored to decide which were the best pictures that had been painted by the leading men within the last ten years, and then to obtain these works by direct applications to their owners. In sculpture the same general rules of selection prevailed, and some of our best productions will be sent to Paris. The owners of these works of art expect no private advantages from this enterprise, and are willing, for no other motive than to increase the fame of the artists and the credit of the nation, to submit to the absence of their treasures for nearly a year, and to the risk of their possible loss. It therefore seems no more than reasonable that Congress should make an additional appropriation for return freight, premiums of insurance, and the necessary expense of an agent or custodian. The value of the works of art thus contributed and loaned by these individuals for the public benefit is at least $150,000, and it would be exceedingly unjust and ungenerous if, in addition to the sacrifices made by them, they should be called upon to pay the charges indicated above. Professor CHARLES A. JOY, Chairman of GROUP 2, embracing books, proofs and apparatus of photography, musical instruments, medical and surgical instruments, mathematical and philosophical instruments, &c., reports: That there were 147 applications for space; of these 50 have been withdrawn voluntarily or rejected, leaving 97 producers to whom space has been assigned. The following distinguished gentlemen were consulted as experts under the various classes of this group: CLASS 6.-Printing and publishing-Mr. George P. Putnam, publisher: Mr Joel Munsell, publisher; Mr. James T. Fields publisher; Mr. E. H. Butler, publisher. CLASS 7.—Bookbinding.—Mr. James Somerville, bookbinder. CLASS 8.-Plastic moulding-Mr. Calvert Vaux, architect. CLASS 9-Photography.-Ogden N. Rood, professor of physics in Columbia College; Mr. M. Carey Lea, editor of Philadelphia Journal of Photography; Mr. Charles W. Hull, corresponding secretary of the American Photographic Society; Mr. Frank Leslie, publisher of the Illustrated Journal; Mr. William H. Badeau, manufacturer of photographic material; Dr. John Dean, amateur photographer. CLASS 10.-Musical instruments-Mr. Theodore Thomas, composer and music director; Mr. William Mason, pianist and composer; Mr. Joseph Poznanski, pianist; Mr. S. B. Mills, pianist; Mr. Henry C. Timm, pianist; Mr. William A. Pond, publisher of music; Mr. William Scharfenberg, pianist and publisher of music; Mr. Charles K. Jarvis, pianist; Mr. Charles Wolfsohn, pianist; Mr. Otto Dresel, pianist; Mr. John S. Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music. CLASS 11.-Medical instruments.-Dr. J. K. Barnes, Surgeon General of the United States; Dr. Frank H. Hamilton, professor of surgery; Dr. William H. Van Buren, professor of surgery; Dr. Ernest Krakowitzer, professor of surgery; Dr. John M. Carnochan, professor of surgery; Dr. Thomas B. Gunning, surgeon. CLASS 12.-Philosophical instruments.-Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, president of Columbia College; Dr. Wolcott Gibbs, professor of chemistry in Harvard College; Dr. William M. Gillespie, professor of engineering in Union College; Mr. John L. Gavit, engraver and microscopist. CLASS 13.-Maps and charts.-Mr. Charles P. Daly, president of the American Geographical Society; Mr. Archibald Russell, vice president American Geographical Society; Mr. George C. Anthon, professor and founder of Anthon's Classical School. A majority of these gentlemen served upon the committees and passed upon the merits of the articles offered for exhibition. It is believed that entire impartiality prevailed in their decisions. The means at the disposal of the agency were inadequate to meet the demands in the great American specialty of pianos. Thirty-four pianos and seventeen organs were offered for exhibition." The committee were greatly embarrassed in the selection of the few it was found possible to send. There ought to have been a larger appropriation to meet the wants of this important class of manufacturers. A similar embarrassment was felt in selecting proper ambulances, surgical instruments, and various contrivances which proved so effective in the hospital and in the field during our late war. An appropriation of a few thousand dollars will enable us to remedy many defects in this group. Mr. RICHARD M. HUNT, Chairman of GROUP 3, embracing furniture and other objects used in dwellings, reports: That the space allotted to this group was eighty-five square metres of floor room, and but for the delay of Congress in making the appropriation applied for by this committee, the room would have been altogether inadequate, as many exhibitors were prevented from sending their works, not having sufficient notice to prepare for a competition with those of their craft or profession abroad. Want of time has also precluded the execution of the project entertained by this committee, of having a temporary exhibition of the articles in this country previous to sending them to Europe, the most satisfactory way of deciding upon their merits. There will be a fair exhibition of a certain class of articles. The total number of applications was fifty. These were passed upon by competent commit tees of experts. Among the gentlemen and firms who have been consulted may be mentioned the following: Dr. James H. Bowen, Chicago; Mr. J. C. Bancroft Davis, New York; Messrs. G. Collamore & Co., New York; Mr. J. S. Redfield, New York; Mr. ELLIOT C. COWDIN, Chairman of GROUP 4, reports: That this group, which embraces cotton, woollen, and rubber goods, men's clothing, boots and shoes, and other articles of similar character, will be well represented. Its most striking features are the implements of war and articles for army use, prominent among which are rifles, breech-loading fire-arms, howitzers, revolvers, battery guns, &c. The following officers of the United States army and prominent citizens aided in the selection of proper articles for transmission to Paris: Dr. F. A. P. Barnard, New York; Major Gen'l M. C. Meigs, U. S. A.; Mr. E. R. Mudge, Boston; Mr. W. A. Budd, New York; There will be sixty-one exhibitors in this group. pay for The chairman deems it proper to ask for additional appropriations to the return freight and the installation of these valuable contributions to the Exposition. Mr. SAMUEL B. RUGGLES, Chairman of GROUP 5, embracing products of mines and metallurgy, of the forest, of fisheries, of chemistry and pharmacy, &c., reports: That the prominent feature of this group for the United States is class No. 40, the products of mines and metallurgy. The applications have been very numerous, embracing nearly every State and Territory in the American Union, and largely exhibiting its vast metallic resources. Several thousands of specimens, some of them of large size, will be transmitted within the months of December and January to Mr. Derby, who early made arrangements to secure adequate spaces in the palace for the mineral and cereal products of all the States and Territories from which applications have been received or were expected. The chairman of this group, soon after his appointment by the government in July as one of the ten professional commissioners, for the purpose of securing adequate action by the country, personally visited all the States from New York westward to Minnesota and Iowa inclusive, explaining the importance of the Exposition to the interests of the various portions of the United States. In these efforts, and especially in the northwestern States, he was actively and efficiently aided by two of his associates in the commission, Mr. James H. Bowen, of Chicago, and Mr. Henry F. Q. d'Aligny, of the upper peninsula of Michigan, and also by the zealous co-operation of several of the commissioners appointed by the several States, including Mr. J. L. Butler, of Missouri, Mr. J. P. Reynolds, of Illinois, and Mr. J. A. Wilstach, of Indiana. The results of these efforts will be to accumulate so great a mass of specimens, mineral and cereal, in the city of New York, that it will become necessary to organize a large advisory committee of geologists and mineralogists for the purpose of selecting from the whole, the portion for which space can be obtained in the palace. Meanwhile, a correspondence has been opened with Commissioner General Beckwith at Paris, to extend the time for placing these specimens to the latest allowable period. Mr. Beckwith in a recent letter states: "There will be, as it now stands, abundance of room for minerals: no application was refused, all were accepted, about fifty in number; and the aggregate space allotted is between sixty and seventy square metres, say seven hundred square feet, of shelf. "You need therefore have no uneasiness about room: if the half of this space is filled with specimens, properly prepared for exhibition, it will be superb, and if the whole is thus filled, it will create astonishment." Some of the States, rich in minerals, have been somewhat dilatory in sending forward their specimens for shipment, but any omissions on their part will be supplied, in a good degree, by valuable specimens which will be actively collected by the New York Mining Board, under the direction of their president, Mr. Salem T. Russell, with the aid of a special committee of their body. There is now good reason to expect that all the specimens, properly selected, labelled and arranged, which can reach Paris by the 1st, and perhaps by the 15th of March, may be duly placed and exhibited. The magnitude of the various accessions in this particular class renders it necessary to select only the portions most important and characteristic. It has therefore become necessary to call in the aid of experts, not only to make the necessary selections, but to classify, label, and properly pack in boxes the specimens to be sent, and for that purpose to procure suitable rooms and several skilled assistants. The principal scientific labor will be gratuitously performed by the distinguished professors of the "School of Mines" of Columbia College, in the city of New York, to which place all specimens not otherwise directed by the exhibitors will be sent. The geologists, mineralogists, and other men of science, whose counsel has been requested in making these important selections, are: F. A. P. Barnard, president of Columbia College, Charles A. Joy, professor in Columbia College and School of Mines, New York; Professors Thomas Egleston, John S. Newberry, and Charles F. Chandler, School of Mines, Columbia College; Professor J. P. Kimball, Bureau of Mines, New York city; Professors Benjamin Silliman and George J. Brush, New Haven; Professors Wm. B. Rogers and J. P. Cooke, Boston and Cambridge; Professor Wm. H. Clark, Amherst; Mr. Wm. S. Vaux and Dr. F. A. Genth, Philadelphia; Professor George H. Cook, New Brunswick; Professor Ed. C. Boynton, West Point; Professors John C Draper and Charles S. Stone, New York; Professor Charles U. Shepard, Amherst; Mr. George W. Maynard, Colorado. |