"Our 'Domestic Exhibitors' could have no higher testimonial than that
furnished by the magnificent buildings and grounds of this Exposition.
We have here combined in brilliant variety the charms and beauties of
garden, forest, lake and stream, embellished by these splendid
structures, forming an harmonious whole certainly not equaled by any
former Exposition. All credit is due the President and Directors, whose
intelligence and untiring labors have conquered all obstacles and
brought this World's Fair to a most auspicious and successful opening.
One cannot view the result of their labors without being deeply
impressed with the magnitude of their undertaking, and when we consider
the exhibits which have been assembled within these grounds, we are led
irresistibly to an appreciation of the multitude of forces which
contributed to this great work, and particularly to the co-operation
which must have existed to produce the result before us.

"I have the honor on this occasion to speak for our 'Domestic
Exhibitors.' They are well represented by their works before you, and by
these works you can know them.

"These exhibits represent in concrete form the artistic and industrial
development of this country, and in viewing them one cannot but be
impressed with the great improvement in the conditions affecting our
material and physical welfare and with the corresponding advancement in
our intellectual and esthetic life.

"Let us consider for a moment the processes by which this result has
been reached. We have here collected the products of our artistic,
scientific and industrial life. The raw materials of the farm, the
vineyard, the mine and the forest have been transformed by the skilled