One hundred years ago to-day the Government of the United States acquired sovereignty over the vast territory west of the Mississippi River, which has since been known to the geographical nomenclature of the world as the “Louisiana Purchase.”  Beyond the river the boundaries and the resources of the territory were ill defined and but vaguely comprehended.  The purchase price of $15,000,000 was pronounced exorbitant, the free navigation of the Mississippi being the only part of the property deemed worthy of serious consideration.  The transaction was regarded by many as a violation of the Constitution and a menace to our form of government.  The grave doubts of president Jefferson were only resolved into action by his patriotic desire for national supremacy over the river and his prophetic faith in the possibilities of the mysterious country beyond it.  The revelations of a century most amply justified his faith.

When the treaty of cession was concluded, President Jefferson represented less than 6,000,000 people.  During these ceremonies, President Roosevelt, the Executive of over 80,000,000 of freemen, will dedicate the buildings.

The magical story of local development puts to shame the creations of fiction.  The contented and prosperous inhabitants of the Louisiana Purchase to-day substantially equal in numbers three times the total population of the United States in 1800.  The conquest of space, forests, streams, and deserts and the founding of cities and States in waste places within this territory mark an advance unsurpassed in the history of human endeavor.

In conformity with a special act of Congress, the President has invited all the nations to cooperate with us in properly commemorating the masterful achievements of a century in this new country.

It is fitting that the celebration should be international, for you will in vain attempt to name a civilized country whose sons and daughters have not contributed to the glorious triumphs of peace recorded here.  In vain will you seek a more cosmopolitan and at the same time a more homogeneous population than that of the Louisiana territory.  The purchase facilitated by the exigencies of European war, and made in a season of darkness and peril, has proven a boon not only to the grantor and the grantee, but to humanity at large, for here the nations have commingled, and the brotherhood of man has become a demonstrated possibility.

As a means of giving expression to the universal appreciation of what has been accomplished for humanity within this field during the century, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition was organized under authority of an act of Congress.  With the aid of the United States Government and the city of St. Louis, the Exposition Company, through its officers, agents, and employees, has erected the majestic exposition buildings whose massive proportions