Excerpt from Report of the Perry's Victory Centennial Commission to the Governor of Ohio, Vol. 1: January 12, 1909

The first inquiry regarding the enterprise thus launched will doubtless relate to its character and scope. On this point the language of the resolution creating this commission seems to be explicit. It recommends that the proposed observance of the centenary of Perry's Victory shall take the form of a suitable exposition and centennial celebration during the year1913: and, lest there should be any misunderstanding as to the extent of the enterprise, and as a pledge of a real exposi tion rather than of a mere burst of oratory and fireworks, the resolution concludes by cordially inviting the National and State governments and the American people at large to participate and take part in the said centennial celebration. This inevitably suggests a celebration extending over some weeks, commemorative of the progress and achievements, during the century elapsing since the Battle of Lake Erie, of all the governments, commonwealths and communities which mav participate in it.

Your commissioners are greatly impressed by the fact that the centennial anniversary of Perry's Victory will be practically contemporaneous with the conclusion of one hun dred years of peace between the governments ofgreat Britain, Canada and the United States, beginning with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, December 24, 1814, which terminated the War of 1812. We are thus confronted with at least the possibility of an international event on Ohio soil hardly five years hence, participated in by the two great English-speaking nations of the world, under the highest official auspices. What could be more appropriate than an international cele bration of the conclusion of the century of peace between Great Britain, Canada and the United States, which has ensued since the signing of the Treaty of Ghent? Surely that were better than a one-sided celebration of a victory of war; and we believe that such a celebration would have lasting influence for good, while affording a spectacle worthy of world-wide respect and emulation.

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