Drexel, esq., chairman of the executive committee of "the
American committee on the pedestal of the great statue of 'Liberty
Enlightening the World,'" dated the 27th of April, 1886, suggesting
the propriety of the further execution by the President of the joint
resolution referred to by prescribing the ceremonies of inauguration
to be observed upon the complete erection of the statue upon its site
on Bedloes Island, in the harbor of New York.
Thursday, the 3d of September, being the anniversary of the signing of
the treaty of peace at Paris by which the independence of these United
States was recognized and secured, has been suggested by this committee
under whose auspices and agency the pedestal for the statue has been
constructed as an appropriate day for the ceremonies of inauguration.
The international character which has been imprinted upon this work by
the joint resolution of 1877 makes it incumbent upon Congress to provide
means to carry their resolution into effect.
Therefore I recommend the appropriation of such sum of money as in the
judgment of Congress shall be deemed adequate and proper to defray the
cost of the inauguration of this statue.
I have been informed by the committee that certain expenses have been
incurred in the care and custody of the statue since it was deposited on
Bedloes Island, and the phraseology of the joint resolution providing
for "the permanent care and preservation thereof as a monument of art"
would seem to include the payment by the United States of the expense so
incurred since the reception of the statue in this country.
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