Ohio History Journal
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102 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. was introduced by Mr. Burdell and asked to invoke the Divine blessing. REVEREND NAPHTALI LUCCOCK: "Our Father's God from out whose hand, The centuries fall like grains of sand," We stand in this sunlit hour of privilege with grateful hearts for the splendid inheritance thou hast given us in the midst of the years. We thank thee for the happy memories which crowd our hearts, and for the great opportunities which open before us. Put thy blessing upon the commonwealth which we honor this day, and upon all the commonwealths of our Nation! The bless- ing of the Lord our God be upon us and the work of our hands establish thou it, through Christ! Amen. OPENING ADDRESS DELIVERED BY WILLIAM F. BURDELL, PRESIDENT OHIO COMMISSION. Ladies and Gentlemen - On behalf of the Ohio Commission to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition I bid you welcome to these |
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Ohio day exercises. We are justly proud of our state and we like to get together and talk about her. The Ohio Commission with limited re- sources has done the best it could to provide a comfortable and hospitable meeting place for Ohio people visiting the Fair. I am delighted that such a goodly number of Ohioans lend their appreciative presence to this superb effort of this most progressive city. To mass the products of the whole world in one comprehensive grouping -to search the globe and find its rarest treasures - to place beside the |
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best gifts of an indulgent Providence, the best efforts of intel- lectual man, is a work of stupendous magnitude. St. Louis has done this and has done it well. We look upon the world's eighth |
Ohio Day at the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition. 103
wonder, and the people of Ohio
congratulate you of St. Louis
upon your splendid success.
There is much in this land and much in
our time that should
make us grateful contemporaries. To live
in an age of accumu-
lated genius - to have the work of man
transcend man and
approach the unknowable - to see spread
out before us this grand
panorama of man's accomplishment, is a
privilege we do not fully
appreciate. By some propitious accident
of time, we rather than
our fathers, behold civilization's
supremest triumph. I do not
believe that those of our day will
witness a duplication of this
magnificent exposition. You, fortunate
men and women, who
visit St. Louis in this year 1904, see with your
own eyes and feel
with human senses this impressive
revelation of man's highest
attainment.
Ohio has had some share in the great
national development
which this exposition reflects. Ohio and
her sons have not been in
the rear of this splendid procession.
She and they have been
making records for political and
industrial America. Some pages
in our country's history belong to her.
Even now the tiller of
the Ship of State is warm with the hand
of that beloved and gentle
McKinley - of that masterful, yet
humane, Napoleon of modern
politics, Hanna - of that wise pilot of
our blackest night of finan-
cial stress, John Sherman -with the hand
of Hay, who makes
precedent for the whole world's
diplomacy, and Taft, who built
out of chaos a government for the
Philippine Islands.
Yes, Ohio has been and is conspicuous in
the larger affairs
of our country. There were times when
she seemed to dominate
and control them. Her sons were forceful
leaders, their eloquence
was persuasive, their judgment sound and
stable. If, in the grow-
ing power of this great West -in the
mutation of our national
life -if, in the future, the
man and the issues of another state
should seem ascendent in the councils of
the nation - if other
men of other states nearer the great
heart and brain of this grand
republic, should seem better fitted for
the responsibilities of gov-
ernment, there will be in Ohio no
resentment - no heart burnings.
We will sustain and strengthen them,
will follow on with them,
the splendid highway of our common
glory. And, in the tri-
umphal march of which this exposition is
but a halting place, the
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Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
East and the West, the North and the
South, proud of each other's
attainments, glorying in each other's
triumphs, will go on together
in that undying love of a common country
which, in surpassing
goodness, justice and power, is the
central sun of this western
hemisphere.
We will go on together, not content with
this splendid expo-
sition that seems today the acme of
human achievement, but with
the unsatisfied longing, the
unquenchable desire for better things,
with faces towards the light, with hands
ever guided by righteous
hearts, will raise stone upon stone--a
mighty monument of
national greatness.
I have alluded to the glories of this
great exposition. I now
have the pleasure of introducing to you
the man who, more than
all others, is responsible for the
success of this fair -the Honor-
able David R. Francis, President of the
Louisiana Purchase
Exposition.
HONORABLE DAVID R. FRANCIS:
Mr. President, Your Excellency,
Ladies and Gentlemen -
The exposition management is more than
pleased to see this repre-
sentative outpouring of Ohioans on Ohio
Day. You know, the
Government at Washington has not been
able to run for years
without Ohio's assistance; consequently,
no great exposition could
be successfully held without the
participation of Ohio. We are,
therefore, deeply grateful to the
Buckeye State for the assistance
rendered to this international or
universal exposition.
Ohio has a history of which every
citizen of the state should
be proud. There are many links which
bind Ohio to the Louisiana
Territory, and there are many reasons
why Ohio should participate
in this exposition; why the people of
the Louisiana Purchase
should feel grateful to Ohio. I believe
it was the same La Salle
who discovered the Ohio River and went
down that stream before
he went down the Mississippi and reared
the cross near the mouth
of the Father of Waters and named the
territory "Louisiana" in
honor of his King of France. From that
time on the hardy
pioneers who blazed the way in that
country have constantly forged
their way westward. They were
instrumental in bringing about
the purchase of this Louisiana Territory
and have been very