AN ELOQUENT ORATION. General Banks on the Paris Exposition. gis Great Speech Delivered in the House of Representatives, Tuesdayf March • 130, 1866. Oflieia , l Report. IFrom tbE Congressional Globe.] Mr. Stevens moved : that the rules be sus- pendedf and that the House resolve itself into the Committee of the Whole on ~the state of the Union. • The motion was agreed to ; and the House accordingly resolved itself into the Commit tee of the Whole on the state of the Union, (Mr.-Wilson, of lOWEhill the chair), and pro-1 ceeded to the consideration of Housejoint resolution No. 52, to provide for the expenses attending the exhibition of the products of industry of the United States at the Ex position at Paris in 1867. Washburn(lll.) I move to lay that. Mr. Washburn AMY and take up an appropriation bill. - M. Banks I hope not. It is necessary this question should be settled. The motion was disagreed to. Mr. Banks moved that, by:unanimous consent,' the first reading of the joint resolu tion for information be dispensed with. Mr. Washburne (III.) objected. The joint resolution was then read a first time for information. Mr. Banks. I move to amend the first section by the following, which was omitted by accident After line seven, section one, insert : First, to provide necessary. furniture and fixtures for the proper exhibition of the ar ticles and products of the industry of the United States, according to the plan of the imperial commissioners, in that part of the building exclusively assigned to the , use of the United States, $48,000. • Mr. Chairman, I suppose this amendment opens the whole subject for discussion. The Chairman. General debate has not been closed. Mr. Banks. Mr. Chairman, the 'amend mnd I have offered embraces the - laiaterial part of the sum approp • riated in the first re solution, and is the point which controlled the judgment of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, to which this subject was referred, in asking the House to make an appropria for this purpose. It is proper to say, Mr. Chairman, that the Government of the United States has never made an appropriation for an object of this character; aral unti). the Exhibition of 1867 was proposed, no Government has taken the initiative and , assumed the re sponsibility of expenses incurred in c.chi bitions of this description. Industrial ex hibitions in all ages have been popular, and not (govermental, enterprises. Whenever the people have had wrongs to redress or rights to assert, their only means of appeal ing to public opinion and sympathy, except by violence, have been through the exhibi tion of the fruits of their industry. Than it has ever been in Poland, Hungary, e, or England; wherever the people sought to influence the Government or stamp their ideas upon the public mind, they have, in exhibiting the fruits of their:industry, given 4midence of their claims upon Government. This was true of • our own Revolution as of other States. It was not until 1851 that industrial exhibitions engaged the universal attention of nations. 'The Exhibition of 1851 itself was only estab lished upon the guarantee made by indi• vidual citizens who engaged that the Go vernment should not be made responsible in any encouragement which it might at find. The Exhibitions at Paris- in' 1855, at London in 1862, and at Hamburg in 1863, proceeded on the sameldea, that the 'enter prise was one of individual character, in which Governments participated, but for which they were not responsible, and which they did not assume to control. ' But at length, as with education, railways, and other popular organizations for the im provement of the condition of the people, ineustrial expositions now enjoy ,for the first time the reluctantbut essential patron age and favor of Governments. The Emperor of France has for the first time in the history of the world assumed the 'responsibility of collecting, classifying, and exhibiting its industry, and invites all nations to present evidences of their pros perity, progress, and power in industrial pursuits. His Government has appropriated 7,0,000,000 francs for its expenses. He pays 12,000,000 francs from the treasury of the empire, and trusts that the balance of eight millions may be obtained from admission fees and in other forms of contribution. Belgium has appropriated 600,000 francs. or $120,000, for the same purpose. Every nation on the European continent will make its appropriations. Individuals, so cieties, corporauons,cities, and departments of France will also be called upon for vol =tag contributions. It is therefore an en terprise in which Governments and not in dividuals are to act, and if the United States desires to be represented in this exhibition of the world's 4 Fvealth, it must be through their Government, and not, as heretofore, i by individuals. It is for that reason,among others, that the Committee on Foreign Affairs has asked this -appropriation of the Rouse. Unless the Government takes the initiative and is represented there as a Go -vernment, the people of the United States interested in the report of our, progress in industry will be without rights or privi leges. Itis important that we should. con sider the subject in view of this fact. On the 15th of January last a resolution was approved by the. President, which had passed both Houses of Congress, accepting thikinvitation of the Emperor of France to tate part in the Exposition of 1867; and it now becomes our privilSge and duty to say whetter, by fit appropriations for this pur e pose, wit%N will enable the Epeopie, we repre sent to ail themselves of the advantages offered ns in common with other nations. There can be no impropriety , in saying that • if are to be represented at all we should be well represented, and that maket it neces sary we should conform to the plan of the imperial commission. This plai t h as p r y probably attracted the attention of gentle- -4) men of the House, as it has been p r intedat length in No. 12 of the ExecutiveDocu is to :eeritfiepre xne ta. Each Government waited through its industrial a raFt of the palace constructed for . the A proper exhibition of the varied products of human 'industry is assigned to each ten,: The structure covers thirty , ' na -SLB acr es ofthe ,ChamP - de Mars. It is ethpticalin form .. Each of the ten groups in -which all brtmches are classified occupies one of the ten divisions running with the elliptical forth of the • structure into which it is. di vided, :and each nation is assigned a section of the ground floor; running from'the out side to the centre;. so that a• spectator • in moving round the building inspects all ar ticles of any one class that, the world•_pro duces; and in moving from " the' outside to the centre by the transverse passage he will see. everything that each: nation produces. The industry of the world is thus so classi fied and arranged that a view of the whole. or of the part of each nation, is easily ob tained. The United States ranks the eighth 3n the list of assignments of space. It has fillE DAILY EVENING SATURDAY, MARCH 17,1866.---TRIPLE SHEET. pia times the space heretofore assigned other exhibitions where it was the fourth in the rank 'of nations It is necessary that the portiOn assigned to us should be furnished for the proper ex-- hibition of the fruits of our industry, Sc- cording to the plan provided for all nations. The expenditure required for this purpose, according to the estimate of the Arnerican minister at Paris,for furniture and fixtures, will be $48,000. It is to provide for this sum that the amendment is offered. which I have sent to the Chair, and Which was - omitted in the printed form by accident. lam au thorized to say by the committee that it is their unanimous opinion that the acceptance of the invitation on the part of the Govern ment makes it incumbent upon us to make this appropriation at least. I believe they were all united in that opinion. :The com mittee hesitated, long and carefully con sidered the subject in every point of view, before they agreed to make the recommen dation for the appropriation of $lOO,OOO. The part of the building assigned for us contains thirty thousand square feet. It gives.us twenty thousand feet for passage ways and ten thousand feet net for exhibi tion. Evezy State in the Union has already wade application for . a portion of this space. The State of Illinois has applied for a - very large share, and altogether the room already demanded will more than cover - _ _ the spice assigned to us. It is probable that a larger part of the building would have been assigned had the representative of the Government at Paris or the executive officers here been authorized to accept the invitations or specify what space would be required or how much would'be used if as signed. But neither there nor here, 'was any one able to specify what space would be .wanted. The opinion was ex.Kessed that the American people would destre to be represented and that the largest space al lowed would be wanted. It is to furnish appropriate furniture and fixtures for this space that the appropriation of $48,000 is proposed. I will turn to the next section of the bill in order to explain other expenditures which are embraced in the $lOO,OOO asked for, The next provision is--; For the compensation of four clerks in New York and four clerks in Paris, whose salaries shall be as follows: one at $1,500, one at $1,400, and two at $1,200 each. These clerks are provided for at New York in the resolution which passed Con gress and was approved by the Prosident. This bill cuts down the salaries specified in the joint resolution passed, which was ap proved January 15, from $1,600 to $1,400, or $2OO for each clerk. So that it makes a re duction in the sum required to that extent. If we are to appear in Paris, if we are to ex pend $48,000 for fixtures and furniture, it is of course necessary that there should be some arrangement made by which the arti cles presented for exhibition should be so classified that we should not duplicate from each State, and from different parts of the same State, the same articles. It is there- I fore absolutely necessary that there should be some officers to regulate this. A general agent was appointed at New York by the Secretary of State, whose salary was not fixed. This appointment has been approved, and the appropriation is requested for him self and the clerk which he was authorized to appoint. The next provision is— For the compensation of professional and scientific commissioners, ten in number, at the rate of $l,OOO each per annum, $lO,OOO. It may seem to some unnecessary that there should be ten scientific commission- era appointed to attend this Exposition; but if it be necessary, assuredly the compensa tion of sl,ooo,with the passage out andback, which is provided for in another section, will not be deemed extravagant. I think I may say with some degree of confidence that if the committee will look at the cha racter of the Exposition and the plan upon which it is organized they will come to the conclusion that a scientific commission that shall attend for the purpose of examining and reporting upon the results of the indus try of the world is absolutely essential to the fall realization of its manifold advan tages,and will far more than compensate for the amount of the expenditure incurred in this section. The plan of the Exposition of 1867 is the grandest classification of the world's indus try that the mind of man has ever con ceived. There has never been presented,in the history of the world, such a compre hensive, systematic, and scientific group ing of the various branches of human in dustry of the world as this plan unfolds. All the pursuits and products of industry are classified in ten leading di visions, and subdivided into ninety-five classes. It is proposed by the commissioner acting for the Government, the American minister at Paris, that one scientific com missioner for each one of these groups shall be appointed by the Government. The gronps are as follows: 1: Works of art. 2. Materials and application of labor to art. 3. Furniture and other household articles. 4. Clothing, including cloths and other wearing apparel. 5. Mining, and the rough products of milling. 6. Processes of mechanic arts. 7. Food, fresh and preserved, in its va rious states. 8. Leading agricultural products and specimens. 9. Natural horticultural products and specimens. 10. Objects especially exhibited for im proveing the physical and moral condition of the populations of the earth. These ten grounds embrace all the pursuits of man, all the products of industry, all, the habits of life, all the relations of men to each other, to society, and to progressive civilization. It is of vast importance that this World's Exhibition should be so far studied by our people that we may be able to comprehend the advantages to be derived from it, and appropriate them to the instruc tion and benefit of the different sections of the country. - We have eminent scientific men in every part of the country who will be capable not only of illustrating our own relation to the industrial products of the earth, but com bine in concise, comprehensive methods the results of their investigation, and to impart that information to our people. In the Eastern States we have Professor Agassiz, now in South America, whose in vestigations in natural science will electrify the world and give .to the American name in the scientific world a higher prestige than any nation has enjoyed. Professor Agassiz believes that in a fewyears the sons of the noble lamiles of every nation in Europawill be sent to the universities of this country to complete their studies, and that in the study of natural science we shall have advantages that are not enjoyed by any other nation or any other people on the face of the earth. :in the middleEtates they will be able to present some one who will understand what is necessary for the development of their industry and the.promotion of the great public interests identified with and depen dent upon the success of American industry, And. - the valley of the Missitisippi—a valley that is comparatively unknown to us—that is capable of supporting five hun dred or one thousand. million people which will yield to our, industry . every Product, every• manufacture, every form of mineral, will be able to present a man who under stands the resources of , that Vast section of our country, who will represent its power, who will make known the improvements that may be.made, and. the progress of in dustry elsewhere. In regard to the mineral and commercial regions on the Pacific coast, let me say that it is of- the greatest importance that some man of science and practical - Easilteliould be able to riresent to the people of the .Old World the capacities and resources of that part of our country, and also make known to us in•return what advantages!, may be derived frem this Industrial; Exhibition. In this manner we shall be able to repre sent our material wealth. And more than that, it is in our power to represent the social and political character of the country in such a way as to attract the attention of other nations. The educa tion and the habits of the people; their habits in relation to their industrial pur suits; the food upon which they live;- the clothing they wear; the customs of the so ciety in which they, move ; everything per-, taining to American civilization .will be represented by us. We can show the log cabin where lived one of the earlier Presi dents of the Union; the humble roof be, neath which was born or dwelt the martyr President, whose name Is known and be loved by the common people of all nations. We can show the habits of our people in ''their industrial pursuits, and also the ad vantages which they enjoy in respect to education and progress, and thus'place be fore the world an enlarged view the con dition and the prospect of Amer" ain civili zation, that has not yet been pr isented, and that cannot be presented in any other way. And I think the expenditure of $lOO,OOO to represent us in these great' aspects, the re sults of which will be reported. through ten of the best informed, the most scientific and practical men of the country, will be a sum very well bestowed and very profitably ex pended. The nextaection -relates to att additional structure which possibly may become neces sary for our accommodation. I have said that thirty thousand square feet of area in gross have , been assigned to us by the French Government, placing us eighth in the list of nations. Beyond all question that will be insufficient. Applications have been made already that will fill the entire space. The State of Illinois alone has made application for a space sufficient to take nearly all that assigned to us. It may be necessary for us to provide an additional structure. In the Champ de Mars we can have as much space i as we please, and therefore it is proposed, if it shall be requisite, that the Government of the United States shall appropriate $25,000 for the additional structure, upon condition that an equal sum shall be contributed by individuals for the same purpose. It may be found necessary, and it may not. Ido not think the appropriation is an unreason able one to request or an unreasonable one to grant. The next section contains an appropria tion for contingent expenses in Paris and New York, to be expended' as the commis sioners may :direct, $5,000 being for rent, advertising and incidental expenses already incurred in pursuance of the action of the Secretary of State, confirmed by the action of the two Houses of Congress, and ap proved by the President. The next is a section to which I propose to offer an amendmept when it shall be reached. It now provides that the Secretary of the Navy, at the request of the Secretary of State, shall be authorized to furnish one or more public vessels to transport the in dustrial products of this country to and from France. The sentiments of the Secre tary of the Navy upon this subject, as indi cated when the subject was up before, has led me, upon my own responsibility,to pro pose a modification. I shall therefore pro pose that the President of the United States shall be requested to furnish one or more public vessels for the transportation of the industrial products of this country to France, but not to return them; because it might be said, as the Exhibition will con tinue for six months, that to keep the ves sels there for that time, or to subject them to another voyage out to bring the goods to this country would be perhaps an unreason able addition to the expense. I therefore propose that we provide one or more public vessels for the transportation of our conti nental industry to the shores of France. And I take occasion to say that the repre sentations which have been made here when this subject has been up before in regard to the expense of thistratisportation have been greatly exaggerated. Gentlemen have said that the expense would be two or three hundred thousand dollars; and it has been slated to us that the Navy Department is responsible for such a statement. I say, Mr, Chairman, that no such expenditure will be incurred: that neither $lOO,OOO nor $50,000 nor $20,000 nor $lO,OOO nor any other considerable sum will be incurred. The expense will be no more than that which pertains to the possession of „the vessels which the Government now owns. We ask in the first place nothing more than store-ships—sailing vessels—which are now at the disposal of the Navy Depart ment, which are not engaged in any public service, and can be assigned to this duty without the cost of a dollar to the Govern ment. The use ofthe vessels with the services of the officers and men now employed and paid by the Government, will add nothing at all to the expenses of the Department; and I feel authorized to say in behalf of the committee that we will gratefully accept the meanest exhibition of the national flag which the Navy Department chooses to make for us in aid of this great national representation of our industry. I am told by officers of the Navy Depart ment that these storeships, when they are not, wanted for service, are not now even sold; that the prices which they bring are so insignificant that that they are broken up for the sake of the material. It is only necessary therefore for us to say to the Navy Department, preserve one, two, three or four of these vessels, as may be required —and this will give us all that we need for transporting the exhibitions of our indus try to the shores of France. Within the present month I believe not lessthan twenty steamers have been sold in the city of Balti more at an average of less than $6,000 each; more than half of them were sold for less than $4,000 each. Even a we should ask the use of steamers, which we do not, cer tainly the Government of the United States has the power to- gratify the people of this country at a very slight cost and with very little trouble. The reason for making this request upon the Navy Department is based upon a fact alike honorable to the service and the peo ple of England. At the Exhibitionof 1851 the. Secretary of the Navy, without a re quest of Congress, authority of, law, or un justifiable expense, gave to the manufac turers, the artisans, the agriculturists, of this country the use of the war frigate St. Lawrence to carry to Southampton the pro ducts of their industry; and the arrival of the St. Lawrence at Southampton is an nounced in the English histories of the Ex hibition of 1851 as one of the most notable and gratifying incidents of that grand in industrial exposition. The officers and men of that frigate were honored with an ovation at Southampton; and wheneverthey appeared within the realm of England they were recognized as, the repredentatives of the flag of our country, the bearers of the centributions of- American industry. Now, sir, if that was the case in 1851, as suredly the flag of the United, States will be welcomed in the grander ~Exhibition of 1867. We ask in, this case only that the Government ahall lend us the flag of our country to convey,the industrialre presenta tions of rill classes of it a people from every part of its territory: , There is - in the , resolution a provision which authorized the commissioner at New York to charge the exhibitomone-half of the current rate of freight to - France, the proceeds of which were intended to be ap plied to the reduction of the general ex penges of this exhibition on the part of our Government as provided for by the first resolution appropriating the sum of $lOO,- 000. It was that provision which led me to say in reply to a question of the gentleman from Illinois, Mir. Washburn), when the subject was before the House some weeks since, that the :expense would not in any event exceed $lOO,OOO, and probably_would not exceed $50,000. But, upon reflection, I felt that it was not altogetner an elevated proceeding for the Government of the United States, in the use of the vessels owned and paid for by the people, to charge half-price freight upon the articles to he exhibited in Paris next year for the purpose of illus trating the progress and greatness of oar, country, especially for the benefit of the Government and the people. And therefore I propose on my own responsibility to strike out that section, which stands, as the ykird section in the printed resolution, leaving it as it stands in the second , section, modifying it, however, so far as to call upon the Presi dent instead of the Secretary of the Navy to furnish the vessels. - And Ido this, sir, for another reason which did not ocetir to me in its fall strength at the time the committee reported this re solution. The products which we send to Paris will be to a great extent sold in that country. The American minister at Paris has expressed the opinion that nine:tenths of the articles we send to that country . will be sold there: They ought all to be sold. I think, therefore, there will be no necessity for specially providing for their return. I do not think there is any great generosity in charging them fifty per cent. for their transportation to France. For these rea sons I shall submit the several amendments which I have indicated. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the corn-, mittee, allow me, and I do not know but I. am trespassing too much on their atten tion— Several menabers:;-Go on ; we want to hear you. Mr. Banks—will gentlemen allow me to call attention to the results of previous un authorized exhibibitions of the world's in dustry in London, Paris, and Hamburg? Carefully as we study the history of this country, and especially of its industry, we know very little of its present power and nothing at all of its future. We did not know in 1851, when we sent to London Ina- known men, not unknown men merely in England but unknown men in America, who would electrify as well as instruct the people of the world, who were most inter ested in the prominent and industrial pur suits. When Mr. McCormick took his reaper there it was hardly recognised as a successful implement of agriculture here. It was only when the premium was awarded to it that general attention in this country was called to its great merits and wonder ful success. When George Steers sent out the yacht America it attracted little atten tion. The London Times announced, after a careful examination of its model, that it was of a novel and not very promising style of architecture, of which we had no great reason to be proud; but when it entered the contest against the sailing vessels of the whole world, it so far won in that contest as to leave no flag second; and then every American heart bounded with joy, and a new light broke upon the minds of the people of all nations. There were other like honorable exam ples. There went out an unknown obscure mechanic from the city of New York, a native, I believe, of Massachusetts. The English locksmiths had challenged the whole world for twenty years to open that most important as well as most ingenious invention of mechanism, the Bramah lock. A prize of two hundred guineas was offered to whoever could open it, and it bad been tried by everybody, and no one had made an impression upon it. Mr. Hobbes, the American mechanic, gave it his attention. It was carefully guarded so that there could be ne possible advantage taken by him, and then, to the astonishment of all the English mechanics, after a few hours' ex periments, he unlocked, locked itlig!dn, and repeated the operation, without injury, as often as they pleased. Sir, I need not refer to the most brilliant success of other American mechanics. Every one will agree with me in stating, so far as the Government was then represented in the Exhibition of 1851, it was not only a failure, but a disgraceful failure. and that it Was only the marvelous and unexpected skill and power of oar own citizens, our own un known mechanics, that saved the United States from utter disgrace. In 1662 the Exhibition was repeated in London on a grander. scale. We were then engaged in a terrible war, and could not afford to expend money on any extraneous object. We allowed, however, ninety-five American citizens to go there at their own risk and cost to exhibit the industry of the United States. Eighty-three of thoseninety five American exhibitors received prizes in almost every branch of the eursuits of industry. The London Times, in speaking of that Exhibition, said that after the mechanical department the United States Department was the point of general attraction for the people of all nations. There was no repre sentation of the Government there, no full representation of the industry, skill, genius, power and wealth of our people; only a few unauthorized citizens had gone there at skyl their own expense, and th one, accord ing to the London Times, co stitated the second point of attraction t the people of all nations. And foremos among these, according to the representation of all the English journals, the great middle classes were the most constant and interested in their attendance upon the American de partment. In the Exposition of 1863, at Hamburg, the Government was not represented, but some of our enterprising citizens were there; among others, a single representative from the State of Vermont went there of his owu accord, without the slightest expectation of achieving any distinction for himself. He tookwith him, to represent one of the great staple interests of this country, twelve sheep. Ido not suppose there is a man in this House, or that there was at that time a man. in the United States, that would be lieve for a single moment that the Ameri can States were equal in sheep culture to those nations where it has been studied for tVo or three hundred - years. In the Expo sition at Hamburg, thirty-five different nations were represented. The crowned heads of Europe had their own finest spe cimens of the sheep culture of Europe and Asia there; the Emperor of the French was represented himself by his own choice Bp& dm ens of stock. And this Vermont sheep raiser, Mr. Campbell—l ought to mention his name—who carried 'out at his own cost, twelve sheep, was honored with an exami nation and received two first prizes, and a second prize, for the superiority of his stock. The award was not made by friends of this Government. not by men interested in our people, but by strangers: and when it was announced that an American had received two first prizes for the superior ity of his stock, and the second.prize also, everybody rejected it as fabulous, and when it was verified, by the subsequent publication of the, awaras they disputed the integrity of the award; but Mr. Camp bell, the Vermont man,,challenged a second examination, which was not accepted. I need not go further in the discussien of this matter, to show what we have done in the past. Let me say a word as to what we may do in the future. Mr. Chairman,. of the ten groups into which the imperial commission; has classi fied the industry of the world, the United- States, if it shall be properly represented, will be at least the equal, if not the 'supe rior, of other nations .in six or seven. I need hardly recount' them. In works of art, although we havea reputation notyet in the blossom, I am sure we shall stand in some respects the equals of the modern -represen tatives of older nations. The illustrations of the grand features of American scenery by Church, Bierstadt, and others, and the mar bles of Powers, Story, and 'Hosmer, and other sculptors yet unknown, and whO will never be known except they shall have op portunity to compare their achievements with-the art products of other countries, cannot fail to attract at least respectful at tentiom ' e . In the great democratic exemplification of the art of wood engraving, the United States not only stands first, but it= has achieved distinction by new processes wholly un known to artists of the same profession in other parts of the world. In materials and applications for the libe ral arts, we cannot say much, because we do not know much. We have no knowledge of what this continent will produce in the way of the materials and applications of the liberal arts; but We need not be surprised if• in this gronpe, of the nature of which we know nothing at all, we stand as well as other nations. In the gronpe of minerals, and the raw and wrought products of mining, cer tainly we may say that no part of the world is equal in its mineral wealth to the United States. The mines of BUSSia are for less im portant as sources of national wealth. While the mines of Russia are chiefly on the east ern slope ofthe Ural mountains, from three to ifivcthousand miles from St. Petersburg, whose rivers run gently to the Arctic sea from the centres of population, costing in transportation the greater part of the value of the products, our exhaustless wealth lies on the lines of population, where our popn lation is moving and our railroads are con structed or being constructed,so that we may say that our wealtkin respect to California is the same to us, or will be, as if it lay at the threshold of the Mint at Philadelphia or the marts of New York. I need- not refer to our capacity in me chanical invention orother classes of indus try in which we shall maintain a respecta ble if not superior position. But I want to allude briefly to one point of national in terest where we will be expected to show our power, and where we shall have an in fluence upon domestic as well as foreign affairs by a full exemplification of what we can do. We have passed through a war of great trials and great success. The attention of the world has been called to it. There will be nothing which the people of other countri will so desire to see and to comprehend as the materiel and organization of the Ameri can Army. The qurtermaster's department proposes to send a baggage wagon, manu factured at Philadelphia, that followed Mc- Clellan through his Potomac campaign, Rosecrans in Tennessee, and Sherman in his great march from the mountains In the sea, and then again to Richmond and the surrender of Lee. A wagon with such a history cannot fail to attract the attention of all people. A pair of worn-out shoes, the dress of an American soldier, the shel ter-tent under which he slept, his bayonet, his musket, his knapsack, his cap, his ra tions, anything that belonged to him will attract more attention and draw greater crowds of people and bold them longer and closer than will the crown jewels of Eng land. We want to see also the Navy of our country represented, that Navy which ought to be willing to assist us in the slight demand we make upon it. We want the people of Europe to see of what our Navy is composed, our iron-clads and monitors, as novel in naval architecture as was the yacht America. We want them to see oar twenty inch guns and the thousand-pound pro jectile we have fabricated. The naval au thorities of our country, lam told, would not hesitate to challenge the navies of the whole world todischarge their batteries upon one of our unresisting and silent monitors sleeping on their waters like a turtle, if they will allow that monitor to return the fire of each by a single shot. We want the people of the world to see what our mechanics have done and what they may do ; and we want, too, to- impress upon the people of Europe and Asia that if there is a chance to make friends with the Americans it is better to do it than to make us enemies. We want to show them that we prefer peace, that the fruits of peace are our pride, but that if war be made by their rulers they must not count on unresisting war, but on one that will carry havoc and devastation in their country as it has been carried into the coantry of our enemies. [Applause.] We want, too, that that most simple, that most pure, that most spotless hero of this or any age, Admirable Farragut, shall command in the waters of Europe our iron-dads and our monitors, and give the people evidence of the simplicity of the man whose naval ex ploits ars equal to the brilliant achievemerit ments of Duguay Trouin of France, of Von Tromp of Holland, or Nelson of the Eng lish Navy. And that he may not stand alone, we want that our own gallant soldiers shall be • represented by their leaders, Grant and Sherman and Sheridan, that we may show the world of what stuff our Army and Navy are made. In the way of peace and for the purpose of averting war, there is and there can be no act of the American Government so impor tant as this. I can scarcely doubt that the Emperor of France desires war with this country. One who sits upon a bayonet has a sharp seat and cannot rest quiet long. But Napoleon and the other rulers of Europe must satisfy the people of their respective Governments that they have an easy task and a sure end. While he has the power to represent America as he chooses, and France as he chooses, the people have no medium of instruction except through his • representations. But in this industrial the atre of nations, the voice of rulers will not be more potential than that of the neople. The thin and deceptive veil of diplomacy which has been hanging between Govern ments and the people for centuries, and which is responsible for the injustice of na tions, will be lifted, and the people of Ea rope will understand the people of America. God, in His providence, in this the great est of all providence; now gives to the de mocracy of America an opportunity to speak face to face with the democracy of Europe. The products of industry consti tute the language of labor ; it is a universal tongue; every man will comprehend it, And when they shall have seen for them selves the results of oar war and capacity in:peace they will make known is the rulers of the European. world that the people of this country are to be preferred as friends rather than enemies. Thus, in the matter of peace and war, in preserving our rela tions with the Governments of other na tions upon a proper basis, and in the means of defending our rights, a just representa tion is the best possible appeal we can make. But it is not in this view alone that such representation is important. This great in dustrial congress will constitute an era in our industrial history, as it will in the civilization of the world. Let me recall a few of the leading fea tures of our position and power almost un known to us, and never contemplated by the people of other countries. Our cereal products double in quantity every ten years. They are now more than the grain crops of France; and equal to the grain crops of England, and in ten years they will be larger than the crops of both empires. Lamartine, ih his letter justifying the .Frenoli occupation of Mexico, states dis tinctly that the North American continent is to become the granary of the world, and that France must control a portion of its territory or be subordinate to the Govern ment and people of the United States. The cotton crop gives employment toforty million Europeans. It has been cultivated -in eight States, really in but five States. -The utmost extent of thhiprodudt has been five million bales a year. It can be success fully and profitably cultivated ,in twenty States, certainly-in -mare-tharchalf of the States of the Union. And instead of being limited to five million bales 'a year as the extent of the most favorable crops, we will within a few years send to the markets of tbe world twenty million bales of cotton mei year. The grape is an indigenous product of this country. In the Mexican. border States, on the Pacific coast, in the valley of the Missis sippi, on the Ohio, and in other States, there is evidence abundant, plentiful, and unde niable, that in a few years we shall share at least in the profits of the wine manufac ture. We already export wines, with other agricultural products, from the Pacific coast, to South €America, Australia, the Sandwich, Islands, Japan, and other Asiatic ports. The mineral;wealth of this country is fabu lous. No man would be believed for a sin gle moment, in the . court of nations next year if he stated upon his own responsibility what is the possible, even the probable, de velopment of the mineral wealth of this country. It is only, when the Government shall make its statement that the people of the Old World will credit the relation. Oar mineral regions extend over seventeen par allels of latitude and nearly an equal num ber of longitude, embracmg trio million. square miles, the whole of which is plethoric , and bursting with iron, lead, copper, asphal tum, quicksilver, silver, gold, and many other minerals. Several years since I was impressed with the statement made to me by our minister to Belgium, Mr. Sandford, who said that Baron Von Humboldt had told him that in his judgment it was impossible , that the mountains of Virginia should not. yield diamonds; that the configuration and character of _the country of Virginia in— dicated to Humboldt, who knew the phy— sical world as other men know naankind, that the mountains of Virginia would ulti— mately be found a depository of this the• richest and most rare of precious atones. And in confirmation of this philosophie suggestion, made by a man who could read the indications of the surface 01 the earth, as an expert in natural science recognizes a fish by its bones—as if in exemplification and confirmation of this philosophic theory of Humboldt, we see it announced in the. Southern portion of the continent that dia monds and other precious stones have al ready been discovered. We know com paratively nothing of the mineral character, the mineral resources, the mineral wealth of our country; and it is only when we shall. stand in the council of scientific men, re presenting all parts of the world, and tho roughly conversant with all its wondrous developments, our own resources fully and justly represented, that we shall be able to estimate the value of that we have by that which we have in our possession, but do not yet comprehend and rightly value. I need not speak of the petroleum discov eries in the view or with the spirit of specu lation. I have no eyes for speculation. I never saw in my life a share of stock or scrip of any sort; and I have no care for such things. I have no doubt the if-ae-far as 1 1,17 petroleum is the subject of speculation, it will be an injury as all speculation is. at . e must look at the developments, of attire, in whatever aspect they present themselves. Here in our own country, in Or most populous States, we discover that Providence has given to us a form of wealth necessary to all nations and in all pursuits, and which is found in almost exhaustless quantities. It would seem as if precious oils flowed in the veins of the earth as does its waters; that when it is exhausted in one place it appears in another, and-when ex hausted in the second fountain it reappears again in the MA So, making any ordinary and reasonabletlraft upon thia most boun teous and most miraculous development of our wealth, we may well say that it is ex haustless. It extends from the Alleghenies to the Pacific coast, and may be found any where within an area of two million square miles, and no man can put his foot down or fix his stake at any point at which he may I not penetrate the earth and receive wealth I in this form. Let me look at another point in which we• hewn or ought to have some interest. It is the railway system. The railway is a new element of power. We have thirty-one tbon-and miles of railroad—four times as much as England—more than any other country. We can build as much as we want, and as soon as we desire. Other nations count ,llie cost; but we have no cost; for to invest ins railway is to give value to that property which we possess in other forms'. The construction of our railways has cost us $1,100,000,000; $800,000,000, as I stated the other day, were expended be tween 1850 and 1860. And I have no doubt that between 1870 and 1880, $1,000,000,000• more will be invested, so that we shall have a railway to every part of this country, connecting all the points ofdbmestic wealth,. whether the coal of Pennsylvania, the lead of Illinois. the copper of Michigan, or the , gold and silver, of the Pacific coast, with. he commerce of the world. [Here the hammer fell.] Mr. Ashley (Ohio) I move that t by unanimous consent, the gentleman from Massachusetts be allowed to conclude his remarks. There was no objection. Mr. Banks—Again, sir, consider the ques tion in another regard, which is moral and mental. Mr. Oliphant, a member of the British Parliament, said in a public speech the other day that in religious and secular education the United States are ahead of the whole world. It is well known that we appropriate more money in public educa tion than all other States. In this Exhibi tion of 1867 education will be a material feature; and it would be a crime if the na tions of the earth are to be represented in point of education, that the Government of the United States should not be properly represented. And the same is true of the public press of the country—the American institution which gave in 1860 four thousand journals. and a thousand million copies per annual,. now yields double the number of copies,. or two a week for every person in the United States. Now, sir, in the court of nations, these facts will make an impression upon the , world in two respects in which we have much interest: first, in regard to our finances; and second,in regard to our popu lation. Capital is proverbially heartless,. and will go wherever it finds material for safe and profitable investment. European nations are insecure in their political rela tions. We are secure if we settle our do mestic affairs, as I have no doubt we shall. We will show in our mineral development,. in our increased cotton products, in the ex tension of our cereals, such an absolute se renity in reference to the payment of our public and private debts, as to deprive the• capitalists of Europe of any,. even the , slightest, apprehension in mak ng invest ments in our country. I say, and I think 'without exaggerations —I know it is a strong statement that I anis about to make—if the Government of the , country should issue its scrip . in small_ sums, paying, seven, eight, nine, or ten per cent. interest, with a full and fair repro-. sentation of our material wealth and. the. character of our people to the peFillle, it would break every savings bank in En- - rope if the Governments did not interfere to stop subscriptions. Look at our population, sir, and the , great area 'we occupy, as elements of wealth. The territory is equal to that of Europe. . It. is sufficient to support a thousand million' people. • The valley of the Mississippi alone, . with its tributaries between the mountains, will support a thousand million'people • populated as England is, three hundred and thirty-three to toa avian mile. It will yield all the products of Europe and Asia. Tea and coffee will grow in the Southwest, and with grain grown in the Northwest, in ten or twenty. years the whole world will look to America for food. Our population i s keeping . progress .'with our advance in. material weidth. We had thirty millions of population in 1860. (Continued on the. Eleventh rage)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers