Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
by
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Part 1 out of 16
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59TH CONGRESS, 1st SESSION
DECEMBER 4, 1905--JUNE 30, 1906
SENATE DOCUMENTS
VOL. 14, 1906
SENATE: 59TH CONGRESS: 1st Session
DOCUMENT No. 202
FINAL REPORT OF THE
LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION COMMISSION
1906
FEBRUARY 8, 1906
READ, REFERRED TO THE COMMITTEE ON INDUSTRIAL
EXPOSITIONS, AND ORDERED TO BE PRINTED
WASHINGTON, GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1906
CONTENTS.
Letters of transmittal
Final report
Centennial Day
Diplomatic Day
State Day
Appendices:
Report on Accounts and Statement of Receipts and Disbursements
Disposal of Salvage
Reports of Foreign Countries
Reports of States, Territories, and Districts
Report of Board of Lady Managers
Statement of Expenditures
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives:_
I transmit herewith a communication from the Secretary of State
submitting the final report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Commission, furnished in pursuance of section 11 of the "Act to provide
for celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the purchase of the
Louisiana Territory," etc., approved March 3, 1901.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
THE WHITE HOUSE,
_February 8, 1906._
* * * * *
The PRESIDENT:
The undersigned, Secretary of State, has the honor to lay before the
President the final report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Commission, presented, as required by section 11 of the act of Congress
approved March 3, 1901, entitled "An act to provide for celebrating the
one hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana Territory by the United
States by holding an international exhibition of arts, industries,
manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine, forest, and sea in the
city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri."
Respectfully submitted.
ELIHU ROOT.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
_Washington, February 5, 1906._
FINAL REPORT
OF THE
LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION COMMISSION.
As required by section 11 of an act of Congress entitled "An act to
provide for the celebrating of the one hundredth anniversary of the
purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States by holding an
international exhibition of arts, industries, manufacturers, and the
products of the soil, mine, forest, and the sea in the city of St.
Louis, in the State of Missouri," approved March 3, 1901, this final
report is here presented:
In the early part of the year 1900 the citizens of St. Louis inaugurated
a movement looking to the celebration of the one hundredth anniversary
of the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory by an international
exposition. A temporary organization having been effected, the subject
was presented to Congress through a committee of citizens appointed for
that purpose. Congress conditionally approved the enterprise by enacting
a law which in substance provided that the Government would extend the
required aid to the proposed exposition, providing the petitioners would
furnish assurance that the sum of $10,000,000 had been raised for and on
account of inaugurating and carrying forward an exposition at the city
of St. Louis, Mo., in the year 1903, to celebrate the one hundredth
anniversary of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory.
Prior to March 3, 1901, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, then
consisting of an association of persons, furnished the Secretary of the
Treasury proof to his satisfaction that said sum of $10,000,000 had been
raised for the purpose indicated. Thereupon the act hereinbefore cited
was passed and duly approved by the President.
Including the appropriation made by the act of Congress, the sum of
$15,000,000 was provided for the exposition, as follows:
Donated by the city of St. Louis ...................... $5,000,000
Subscription to the capital stock of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition Company ......................... 5,000,000
Appropriated by Congress, through the act aforesaid ... 5,000,000
On April 1, 1901, in accordance with section 2 of the act of Congress,
the President appointed a nonpartisan commission, consisting of nine
members, known and designated as the "Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Commission," the names of the appointees and the States in which they
resided being as follows:
JOHN M. THURSTON Nebraska.
THOMAS H. CARTER Montana.
WILLIAM LINDSAY Kentucky.
GEORGE W. MCBRIDE Oregon.
FREDERICK A. BETTS Connecticut.
JOHN M. ALLEN Mississippi.
MARTIN H. GLYNN New York.
JOHN F. MILLER Indiana.
PHILIP D. SCOTT Arkansas.
The name of the Commission being somewhat lengthy it became known and
was referred to in the law and proceedings throughout as "The National
Commission."
Pursuant to a call by the Secretary of State, the members of the
Commission met at the Southern Hotel, in the city of St. Louis, on April
23, 1901, and adjourned until the following day, when organization was
perfected.
Thomas H. Carter, of Montana, was elected president; Martin H. Glynn, of
New York, vice-president, and Mr. Joseph Flory, of St. Louis, Mo.,
secretary.
The following committees were appointed:
_Executive._
THOMAS H. CARTER.
JOHN F. MILLER.
PHILIP D. SCOTT.
JOHN M. ALLEN.
FREDERICK A. BETTS.
_Judiciary._
WILLIAM LINDSAY.
JOHN M. THURSTON.
GEORGE W. MCBRIDE.
_Plan and Scope._
GEORGE W. MCBRIDE.
FREDERICK A. BETTS.
WILLIAM LINDSAY.
MARTIN H. GLYNN.
JOHN F. MILLER.
_Members of Board of Arbitration._
JOHN M. THURSTON.
JOHN M. ALLEN.
_Auditing._
JOHN F. MILLER.
PHILIP D. SCOTT.
JOHN M. THURSTON.
_Insurance._
THOMAS H. CARTER.
MARTIN H. GLYNN.
FREDERICK A. BETTS.
_Ceremonies._
THOMAS H. CARTER.
JOHN M. ALLEN.
JOHN M. THURSTON.
WILLIAM LINDSAY.
Mr. Claude Hough, of Sedalia, Mo., was appointed official stenographer
of the Commission on May 6, 1901, and has capably and efficiently served
in that capacity throughout.
The organization of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company was not
formally perfected until about a month after the first meeting of the
National Commission, when the association which had theretofore existed
under that name was duly organized and became an incorporated company
under and in conformity with the laws of the State of Missouri. In the
meantime informal conferences were held between the Commission and the
prospective officers of the company in reference to a site for the
exposition.
The municipal assembly of the city of St. Louis enacted an ordinance
authorizing the use of a portion of Forest Park as a site for the
exposition, as follows:
An ordinance authorizing the use of either O'Fallon Park or
Carondelet Park or a portion of Forest Park as a site for the
world's fair, to be held in commemoration of the Louisiana
Purchase.
_Be it ordained by the municipal assembly of the city of St.
Louis as follows:_
SECTION 1. The corporation or association formed to manage and
conduct the world's fair or exposition in commemoration of the
purchase of the Louisiana Territory, when organized or
incorporated in accordance with the law, is hereby granted the
privilege of using either O'Fallon Park or Carondelet Park or
that portion of Forest Park lying west of the line described as
follows, to wit: Beginning at the intersection of the south line
of Forest Park with the north line of Clayton road, and running
thence in a northerly direction along the west line of the
Concourse drive two thousand five hundred fifty feet; thence in
a northerly direction to the east end of the large lake, a
distance of twelve hundred feet; thence northwesterly direction
about two thousand feet to the intersection of the south line of
Lindell avenue, with the west line of De Baliviere avenue
produced southwardly, for and as a site for said world's fair or
exposition, reserving, however, unto the city of St. Louis all
regulation and control of any of the sites above described,
together with all right to excises and licenses.
SEC. 2. The board of public improvements shall at all times,
beginning with the selection of the site out of the three sites
above referred to, until the close of said world's fair or
exposition, and until the complete restoration of said site as
hereinafter provided, have the power to provide such
regulations, conditions, and requirements as it may deem
necessary to protect the interests of the city with respect to
the construction of all sewers, drains, and conduits of any
kind, and the laying of water pipes or fixtures; and the plans
and specifications for the construction of the foregoing work
shall be subject to the approval of the board of public
improvements, and no such work of any kind shall be done without
such approval by the board. All such sewers, drains, conduits,
pipes, and fixtures shall become and be the property of the
city.
SEC. 3. Within six months after the close of said fair or
exposition, the corporation or association aforesaid shall clear
the park, or in the event of the selection of Forest Park, the
part thereof above described, of all tramways and railway
tracks, rubbish and debris, and of all buildings, sheds,
pavilions, towers, and other structures of every kind, and shall
within twelve months after the close of such fair or exposition,
fully restore the park selected as a site, or in the case of
Forest Park, that portion thereof above-described, by doing all
necessary grading, the restoration and repair, or the formation
of all walks and roads, the planting of trees, the placing of
sod and the planting of shrubs and plants, all in accordance
with plans to be approved by the board of public improvements,
and all to be done subject to the inspection of the park
commissioner, and to his entire satisfaction and approval.
SEC. 4. The corporation or association aforesaid shall, within
six months after the approval of this ordinance by the mayor,
file its written acceptance thereof with the city register, and
make its selection of the park to be used as aforesaid; and said
corporation or association shall also, within the same time,
file its bond in the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, with
good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the mayor and
council, conditioned for a full compliance with and performance
of all the terms, requirements, and conditions of this
ordinance. Said board of public improvements shall have the
right, however, at any time before the opening of said fair or
exposition, if it deems it necessary in the interest of the
city, to require an additional bond in such amount as it may
believe to be proper, whereupon said corporation or company
shall give such bond with sureties to be approved in like
manner, and said corporation or association shall have no
authority to open or hold any fair or exposition upon the site
so selected, and no machinery or improvements of any kind shall
be removed from the premises of said world's fair site until
said bond in the sum so demanded shall have been so filed and
approved.
Approved May 16, 1901.
Considerable correspondence ensued between the Commission and the
Exposition Company in reference to the proposed site, the Commission
particularly insisting upon an adequate water supply and proper drainage
and grading of the property. On June 28, 1901, the site was formally
approved by the Commission and, according to section 9 of the act
authorizing the exposition, the President of the United States was duly
notified.
Prior to August 15, 1901, the National Commission having ascertained
that due provision had been made for grounds and buildings for the uses
contemplated by the act of Congress, so certified to the President of
the United States, who did thereafter, to wit, on the 20th day of
August, 1901, in behalf of the Government and the people, invite foreign
nations to take part in said exposition, and to appoint representatives
thereto, the President's proclamation reading as follows:
Whereas notice has been given me by the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Commission, in accordance with the provisions of
section 9 of the act of Congress, approved March 3, 1901,
entitled "An act to provide for celebrating the one hundredth
anniversary of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the
United States by holding an international exhibition of arts,
industries, manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine,
forest, and sea in the city of St. Louis, in the State of
Missouri," that provision has been made for grounds and
buildings for the uses provided for in the said act of Congress:
Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United
States, by virtue of the authority vested in me by said act, do
hereby declare and proclaim that such international exhibition
will be opened in the city of St. Louis, in the State of
Missouri, not later than the first day of May, nineteen hundred
and three, and will be closed not later than the first day of
December thereafter. And in the name of the Government and of
the people of the United States, I do hereby invite all the
nations of the earth to take part in the commemoration of the
purchase of the Louisiana Territory, an event of great interest
to the United States and of abiding effect on their development,
by appointing representatives and sending such exhibits to the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition as will most fitly and fully
illustrate their resources, their industries, and their progress
in civilization.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington, this twentieth day of August,
one thousand nine hundred and one, and of the Independence of
the United States the one hundred and twenty-sixth.
[SEAL.]
WILLIAM MCKINLEY.
By the President:
JOHN HAY,
_Secretary of State_.
At a meeting of the Commission held on October 15, 1901, the following
resolution relative to the lamented death of President McKinley was
unanimously adopted by the Commission:
Resolution.
Since this Commission last convened the President of the United
States has met a tragic death.
The manner of his death was a blow at republican institutions
and felt by every patriotic American as aimed at himself. It can
truly be said that of all our Presidents William McKinley was
the best beloved; no section of the country held him as an alien
to it. Partisan differences never led to partisan hatred of him;
party faction did not touch him. Nearly half the people differed
with him on public questions, but his opponents accorded to him
the same honesty of purpose which he always accorded to them. He
was the President of the whole people, and was received by them
as such with the honors due his great office and his splendid
manhood, from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the Lakes to
the Gulf. Pure of life, lofty of purpose, and patriotic in every
endeavor, he was the highest type of our American citizenship.
The prayers of an united people were wafted on high to spare our
President, but "God's will, not ours" was done, and the pain of
personal grief was felt in every American home.
_Resolved by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission_,
First. That in the death of President McKinley, the United
States have lost a President who fulfilled the best ideals of
the Republic.
Second. That in every walk of life, in peace and in war, in
private and in public station, he was faithful to every trust
and did his duty as God gave him light to see it.
Third. That these resolutions be spread upon our record and a
copy thereof sent, with an expression of our tenderest sympathy,
to Mrs. McKinley.
Certain rules and regulations governing foreign exhibitors, which had
been formulated by President Carter of the Commission and President
Francis of the Exposition Company at a meeting held in Chicago, Ill., on
August 14, 1901, were approved by the National Commission on October 15,
1901. The rules are as follows:
Adopted under, and in pursuance of an act of the Congress of the
United States, entitled,
"An act to provide for celebrating the one hundredth anniversary
of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States,
by holding an international exhibition of arts, industries,
manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine, forest, and
sea in the city of Saint Louis, in the State of Missouri,"
approved March 3, 1901, a copy of which said act is hereunto
attached. As provided by law the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
will be held in the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri,
U.S.A., and will be opened on the 30th day of April, A.D. 1903,
and will be closed on the 1st day of December of that year. The
exposition will be closed on Sundays.
This exposition will embrace an exhibition of arts, industries,
manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine, forest, and
sea. It will be held to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary
of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States
from France.
The exposition will be international in character, as
contemplated by section 9 of the act of Congress, which reads as
follows:
"That whenever the President of the United States shall be
notified by the National Commission that provision has been made
for grounds and buildings for the uses herein provided for, he
shall be authorized to make proclamation of the same, through
the Department of State, setting forth the time at which said
exposition will be held, and the purposes thereof, and he shall
communicate to the diplomatic representatives of foreign nations
copies thereof, together with such regulations as may be adopted
by the Commission, for publication in their respective
countries, and he shall in behalf of the Government and the
people invite foreign nations to take part in the said
exposition and appoint representatives thereto."
Rules and regulations have been adopted by the National
Commission to be communicated to the diplomatic representatives
of foreign nations for publication in their respective countries
as follows:
ARTICLE 1. All communications relating to the exposition should
be addressed to Hon. David R. Francis, president of the
Exposition Company, St. Louis, U.S.A.
ART. 2. All applications for space for buildings must be filed
with the company on or before July 1, 1902.
ART. 3. Applications for space for exhibits in the buildings of
the Exposition Company must be filed on or before the respective
dates following, to wit:
(A) For machinery and mechanical appliances intended for
exhibition, in operation, October 1, 1902.
(B) For machinery and mechanical appliances not intended for
exhibition, in operation, November 1, 1902.
(C) For works of art, natural and manufactured, products, and
all productions not herein expressly classified, December 1,
1902.
ART. 4. Applications for special concessions to individuals,
associations, or corporations, December 1, 1902.
All applications must be in writing and should be presented on
forms which will be furnished by the Exposition Company.
ART. 5. No charge will be made for space allotted for buildings
or exhibits of foreign governments. Allotments of space to
exhibitors from countries whose governments have appointed
commissioners to the exposition will be made by or through such
commissioners.
ART. 6. No exhibit shall be removed in whole or in part until
the close of the exposition.
Immediately after the close of the exposition exhibitors shall
remove their effects and complete such removal before January 1,
1904.
ART. 7. Exhibits from foreign countries will be admitted free of
customs duties, as provided in the law and the regulations of
the Treasury Department.
ART. 8. The Exposition Company may from time to time, with the
approval of the National Commission, promulgate a classification
and such additional rules and regulations, not in conflict with
the law or regulations herein announced, as may be necessary to
facilitate the success of the exposition and to serve the
interest of exhibitors.
On October 15, 1901, the Commission was notified that the Exposition
Company had, by a resolution dated October 8, 1901, of which the
Secretary of the Treasury had been duly notified, authorized the
Commission to disburse the sum of $10,000 per annum for contingent
expenses, in accordance with the act of Congress therein referred to.
Following is a copy of the resolution:
_Resolved_, That the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
be, and is hereby, authorized to disburse out of the $5,000,000
appropriated under the provisions of the act approved March 3,
1901, in aid of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the sum of
$10,000 annually for contingent expenses of said Commission
under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the
Secretary of the Treasury, and upon vouchers to be approved by
him.
D.R. FRANCIS.
Attest:
W.B. STEVENS,
_Secretary_.
The question of appointing a board of lady managers, authorized by
section 6 of the act of Congress, was considered by the National
Commission and the Exposition Company at a meeting held on October 16,
1901.
After giving the matter due and careful consideration, the Commission
and the company decided to create a board of lady managers of 21
members. The membership of the board was subsequently increased to 24.
The names of the board of lady managers are as follows:
Miss Helen Miller Gould.
Mrs. John A. McCall.
Mrs. John M. Holcombe.
Miss Anna L. Dawes.
Mrs. W.E. Andrews.
Mrs. Helen-Boice Hunsicker.
Mrs. James L. Blair.
Mrs. Fannie L. Porter.
Mrs. Frederick M. Hanger.
Mrs. Jennie Gilmore Knott.
Mrs. Emily Warren Roebling.
Mrs. M.H. De Young.
Mrs. Belle L. Everest.
Mrs. Margaret P. Daly.
Mrs. W.H. Coleman.
Mrs. C.B. Buchwalter.
Mrs. Louis D. Frost.
Mrs. Finis P. Ernst.
Mrs. Mary Phelps Montgomery.
Mrs. John Miller Horton.
Mrs. Annie McLean Moores.
Mrs. A.L. Von Mayhoff.
Mrs. Daniel Manning.
Mrs. James Edmund Sullivan.
Miss Lavinia H. Egan.
Rules and regulations for the classification of exhibits at the
exposition, which had been presented for the consideration of the
Commission by the Exposition Company, and which had been discussed at
length, were finally approved on October 17, 1901, and the Exposition
Company was notified of that fact.
The matter of formulating rules and regulations for the government of
the exposition was one of the first questions to be considered by the
Commission. The matter was taken up at the various meetings of the
Commission, and conferences were held with the officers of the
Exposition Company from time to time. The Commission contended that in
the event of a disagreement between the representative of any foreign
government and the Exposition Company the representative of such foreign
government should be allowed to refer the matter to the National
Commission for joint consideration and adjustment with the company. With
that end in view the Commission insisted that the following provision
should be incorporated in the rules and regulations governing the
exposition:
Should disagreement arise between the Exposition Company and the
representative of any Government, State, Territory, or District,
such representative shall have the privilege, under such rules
of procedure as the National Commission may from time to time
promulgate, of referring the matter in disagreement between such
representative and the company to the National Commission for
joint consideration and adjustment with the company.
The company objected to the insertion of this clause.
Thereupon the Commission and the company agreed to submit the matter in
dispute to arbitration, in accordance with law. The Commission notified
the company that the members of the arbitration board appointed by the
Commission were prepared to meet the arbitrators of the company when
such last-named arbitrators should be appointed. But owing to the fact
that the arbitrators on behalf of the company had not yet been
appointed, it was impossible at the time to submit the matter in
controversy to arbitration.
In November, 1901, it became evident that the success of the exposition
demanded the immediate promulgation of the rules and regulations for the
guidance of intending competitors. The Exposition Company communicated
with the National Commission to that effect and requested that it be
allowed to promulgate the rules and regulations so far as agreed upon,
and that the matter in dispute should be left to subsequent arbitration.
On November 22, 1901, the Commission consented to the promulgation of
the rules and regulations, so far as modified, with the understanding
that the provision in dispute, hereinbefore stated, should thereafter be
incorporated and given due publicity, provided it was adopted by the
board of arbitration. On December 1, 1901, the rules and regulations
were published, and a copy thereof, as approved by the National
Commission, is as follows:
An act to provide for celebrating the one hundredth anniversary
of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States,
by holding an international exhibition of arts, industries,
manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine, forest, and
sea, in the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,
approved March 3, 1901, a copy of which said act is hereto
attached.
As provided by law, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition will be
held in the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, U.S.A., and
will be opened on the 30th day of April, A.D. 1903, and will be
closed on the 1st day of December of that year. The exposition
will be closed on Sundays.
This exposition will embrace an exhibition of arts, industries,
manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine, forest, and
sea. It will be held to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary
of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States
from France.
The exposition will be international in character, as
contemplated by section 9 of the act of Congress, which reads as
follows:
"That whenever the President of the United States shall be
notified by the National Commission that provision has been made
for grounds and buildings, for the uses herein provided for, he
shall be authorized to make proclamation of the same, through
the Department of State, setting forth the time at which said
exposition will be held, and the purposes thereof, and he shall
communicate to the diplomatic representatives of foreign nations
copies thereof, together with such regulations as may be adopted
by the Commission, for publication in their respective
countries, and he shall, in behalf of the Government and the
people, invite foreign nations to take part in the said
exposition and to appoint representatives thereto."
Rules and Regulations.
The following general rules and regulations are promulgated by
the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, having been approved
by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission:
ARTICLE I.
SECTION I. Under a proclamation of the President of the United
States, signed August 20, 1901, all nations and peoples are
invited to and may participate in this exposition.
SEC. II. The site of the exposition will be the west portion of
Forest Park and adjacent territory, and will comprise,
approximately, 1,000 acres.
SEC. III. The executive of the exposition is the president of
the board of directors of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company. There are four principal executive divisions presided
over by the following officers: Director of exhibits, director
of exploitation, director of works, director of concessions and
admissions.
Under the officers subordinate departments for the supervision
of exhibits, of construction, and of maintenance may be created,
each department having its individual chief.
SEC. IV. The bureau of transportation shall have entire charge
of all matters relating to the transportation of passengers and
freight to and from the exposition grounds from all parts of the
world. It will quote rates and classifications, remedy delays,
and be constituted in such a manner as to extend practical
assistance and information to all exhibitors and the public at
large. This bureau has for its chief officer a traffic manager,
who will report direct to the president.
ARTICLE II.
SECTION I. For the development of the exposition to the full
extent of the general plan as outlined, provision will be made
for the installation and care of exhibits, and for the
construction of exhibition palaces, ample and adequate to the
theoretical and physical scope of the exposition.
SEC. II. For the purposes of installation and review of exhibits
a classification has been adopted. The classification heretofore
adopted has been divided into a number of departments, each of
which is again divided into groups and subdivided into classes.
Under this scope and plan the exposition will be constructed,
the installation perfected, and the system of awards conducted.
In conformity therewith the following exhibit departments are
created: Department A--Education; Department B--Art; Department
C--Liberal Arts; Department D--Manufactures; Department
E--Machinery; Department F--Electricity; Department
G--Transportation; Department H--Agriculture; Department
J--Horticulture; Department K--Forestry; Department L--Mines and
Metallurgy; Department M--Fish and Game; Department
N--Anthropology; Department O--Social Economy; Department
P--Physical Culture.
Exhibits shall be classified into 15 departments, in 144 groups,
and in 807 classes.
ARTICLE III.
SECTION I. The directors of the four executive divisions, and
the chief of the different departments thereunder, may
promulgate special rules and regulations governing the more
minute and technical details of the operation of the respective
departments.
SEC. II. The director of exhibits shall have general charge of
the installation of all exhibits and the control and management
of the same.
ARTICLE IV.
SECTION I. The general classification is hereby made a part of
these rules and regulations.
SEC. II. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company reserves the
right, subject to the approval of the Commission, to amend or
correct the classification at any time before the opening of the
exposition by giving thirty days' public notice.
ARTICLE V.
SECTION I. The price of admission will be 50 cents.
SEC. II. While the broadest construction will be placed upon the
rights of exhibitors and their agents to free admission to the
grounds for the purpose of caring for their respective exhibits,
it is intended to restrict these courtesies within reasonable
limits.
ARTICLE VI.
SECTION I. No charge will be made for space allotted for
exhibits.
SEC. II. No charge will be made for space allotted for buildings
of foreign governments, or the United States Government, or of
the State, Territorial, or District governments of the United
States.
ARTICLE VII.
SECTION I. Exhibitors of manufactured articles must be the
manufacturers or producers thereof.
SEC. II. The country where an exhibit is produced, and not the
citizenship of the exhibitor, will determine the nationality of
an exhibit.
SEC. III. Each foreign nation participating in the exposition
will be accorded an official representative, to be accredited to
the president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company,
through the Secretary of State of the United States, or
otherwise.
SEC. IV. Allotment of space to exhibitors from countries where
governments have appointed official representatives to the
exposition will be made by or through such representatives.
SEC. V. While it is expected, as far as possible, to confine
negotiations in the United States to the official
representatives of the respective States, Territories, and
Districts, the right is reserved to confer directly with
individuals.
ARTICLE VIII.
SECTION I. All applications for space for buildings must be
filed on or before July 1, 1902.
SEC. II. Application for space for exhibits in the buildings of
the exposition must be filed on or before the respective dates
following, to wit:
(a) For machinery and mechanical appliances intended for
exhibition in operation October 1, 1902.
(b) For machinery and mechanical appliances not intended for
exhibition in operation, November 1, 1902.
(c) For works of art, natural and manufactured products not
herein expressly classified, December 1, 1902.
(d) For special concessions to individuals, associations, or
corporations, December 1, 1902.
SEC. III. All applications for space must be in writing,
addressed to the president of the exposition, and should be
presented on forms which will be furnished by the Exposition
Company.
SEC. IV. Each application for space for exhibits must be
accompanied by a sketch, drawn to a scale of one-fourth of an
inch to the foot, showing the ground floor plan, and, if
possible, the front elevation and general outlines. These
installation plans and schemes must receive the indorsement of
the chief of the department in which the exhibit is to be
located, and the approval of the director of exhibits, and must
conform to the general architectural design for the treatment of
the interior of the building as prepared by the director of
works.
SEC. V. Permits for space will not be transferable, and
exhibitors will be confined to such exhibits as are specified in
their applications.
ARTICLE IX.
SECTION I. All communications relating to the exposition should
be addressed to the president of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company, St. Louis, U.S.A.
SEC. II. All packages containing exhibits must be addressed to
the president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company.
SEC. III. Direction labels will be furnished by the Exposition
Company to be attached to each package. This label must be
filled out so as to convey the following information:
(a) The department in which the exhibit is to be installed.
(b) The country, State, or Territory from which the package is
consigned.
(c) The name and address of the exhibitor and the total number
of packages sent by such exhibitor.
SEC. IV. In boxing or casing any material intended for
exhibition, screws should be employed in preference to nails or
steel hoops, and packages should be addressed on two or more
sides. Each package should contain a list of the goods therein.
SEC. V. Consignments intended for different buildings should be
in separate packages, and not be included in the same box,
crate, or barrel.
SEC. VI. Freight and express charges and all charges
appertaining to the transportation of material belonging to
individuals, such as exhibits, building material, concession
material and supplies, etc., must be prepaid at the point of
shipment, and the goods delivered at the exposition clear of all
charges of any description incident to the transportation.
ARTICLE X.
SECTION I. If no authorized person is at hand to take charge of
an exhibit within reasonable time after its arrival at the
exposition buildings said exhibit will be removed and stored at
the cost and risk of whosoever it may concern.
SEC. II. The installation of heavy articles, requiring
foundation, may, by special agreement with the director of
works, begin as soon as the progress of the construction of the
buildings will permit.
SEC. III. No exhibits shall be removed in whole or in part until
the close of the exposition.
SEC. IV. Immediately after the close of the exposition
exhibitors shall remove their exhibits and construction, and
complete such removal before March 1, 1904. Any exhibit or
material not removed on March 1, 1904, will be considered to
have been abandoned by the exhibitor, and will be subject to
removal at the cost of the exhibitors, or to such disposition by
the Exposition Company as may be deemed advisable.
ARTICLE XI.
SECTION I. All show cases, cabinets, shelving, counters, etc.,
required in the installation of an exhibit, must be provided at
the expense of the exhibitor, and all countershafts, steam
pulleys, belting, etc., and all compressed-air connections, and
all water and sewerage connections must be paid for by the
person applying for the same.
SEC. II. All decorations and designs to be constructed in
connection with the installation must conform to the rules and
regulations promulgated by the director of exhibits, and receive
the approval of the chief of the department interested.
SEC. III. No exhibitor will be permitted to install an exhibit
so as to obstruct the light or occasion any inconvenience to or
disadvantageously affect the display of other exhibitors.
SEC. IV. The flooring of an exposition building must not be cut
or removed, or its foundation disturbed, and no part of the
construction of a building shall be employed for installation
purposes, except upon the recommendation of the director of
exhibits, approved by the director of works.
SEC. V. Special rules regulating the height of platforms,
partitions, rails, cases, cabinets, counters, and any special
trophy or feature will be issued by the chiefs of the different
departments, with the approval of the director of exhibits.
SEC. VI. All designs for the treatment of exhibition spaces must
be in accordance with the foregoing limitations. The material
used for covering counters, screens, partitions, or floors will
be subject to the approval of the director of exhibits, upon the
recommendation of the chiefs of the department, and must be in
accordance with the general color scheme of the director of
works.
SEC. VII. Special rules and regulations in addition to and not
in conflict with the general rules and regulations of the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company may be promulgated by the
different departments.
ARTICLE XII.
SECTION I. All articles which shall be imported from foreign
countries for the sole purpose of exhibition at said exposition,
upon which there shall be a tariff or customs duty, will be
admitted free of payment of duty, customs fees, or charges,
under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury shall
prescribe under an act of the Congress providing for the
exposition.
SEC. II. It will be lawful at any time during the exposition to
sell for delivery at the close thereof any goods or property
imported for and actually on exhibition in the exposition
buildings or on the grounds, subject to such regulations for the
security of the revenue and for the collection of import duty as
the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe. Such articles
when sold or withdrawn for consumption in the United States will
be subject to the duty, if any, imposed upon such articles by
the revenue laws in force at the date of the importation, and
all penalties prescribed by the laws of the United States will
be applied and enforced against such articles and against the
person who may be guilty of any illegal sale or withdrawal.
SEC. III. Such arrangements will be made with the Government of
the United States as will permit the transportation of foreign
exhibits in bond direct to the exposition grounds, which will be
designated as a United States bonded warehouse.
ARTICLE XIII.
SECTION I. While the Exposition Company will provide every,
possible protection for exhibits and for the property of
exhibitors, it will not be responsible in any case for loss by
fire, accident, vandalism, or theft, through which objects
placed upon exhibition may suffer, whatever may be the cause or
the amount of the damage.
SEC. II. Any object or article of a dangerous or detrimental
character, or that is incompatible with the object or decorum of
the exposition or the comfort or safety of the public, will be
refused admission to the grounds or removed from any building or
any part of the grounds upon the recommendation of the director
of exhibits, approved by the president.
SEC. III. Articles that are in any way dangerous or offensive,
also patent medicines, nostrums, and empirical preparations
whose ingredients are concealed, will not be admitted to the
exposition. The director of exhibits, with the approval of the
president, has the authority to order the removal of any article
he may consider dangerous, detrimental to, or incompatible with
the object or decorum of the exposition or the comfort and
safety of the public.
SEC. IV. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company will carry no
insurance on exhibits, but favorable terms will be secured by
the Exposition Company under which exhibitors may insure their
own goods in responsible companies.
ARTICLE XIV.
SECTION I. Advertisement by means of posters, prints, handbills,
etc., will not be permitted within the exposition grounds except
upon the recommendation of the proper authorities, approved by
the president of the Exposition Company, and then to a
restricted degree only.
SEC. II. Exhibitors' business cards and brief descriptive
circulars only may be conveniently placed within such exhibition
space for distribution; but the right is reserved to the chief
of the department, upon the approval of the director of
exhibits, to restrict or discontinue this privilege whenever it
is carried to excess or becomes an annoyance.
ARTICLE XV.
SECTION I. Exhibitors will be held responsible for the
cleanliness of their exhibits and the space surrounding same.
SEC. II. All exhibits must be in complete order each day at
least thirty minutes before the buildings are open to the
public. No janitor or other work of this character will be
permitted during the hours the buildings are open to the public.
In case of failure on the part of any exhibitor to observe these
rules, the chief of the department, with the approval of the
director of exhibits, may adopt such means to enforce the same
as circumstances may suggest.
ARTICLE XVI.
SECTION I. No crates, barrels, or packing cases will be
permitted to remain upon the exhibition space after their
contents have been removed, except upon the recommendation of
the chief of the department where the exhibit is installed,
approved by the director of exhibits.
SEC. II. The Exposition Company will provide a storage warehouse
for crates, barrels, and packing cases, under a reasonable
schedule of charges based upon those levied by similar
warehouses, which it will be optional for exhibitors to use.
SEC. III. Facilities for the conveyance of empty crates,
barrels, or packing cases to storage places will be provided at
a moderate price.
ARTICLE XVII.
SECTION I. No exhibit or object upon exhibition may be sketched,
copied, or reproduced in any way whatever without the permission
of the exhibitor, approved by the director of exhibits, except
that the president of the company may give such permission.
ARTICLE XVIII.
SECTION I. Exhibitors desiring to contract for service of
electricity, steam, compressed air, power from shafting, gas, or
water, must make application to the chief of the department in
which their exhibits are installed. No application for service
will be entertained unless made upon a blank furnished by the
director of works, which may be obtained from a chief of a
department, and when an application for service has been
approved by the director of exhibits the contract will be
executed on the part of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company by the director of works on terms and conditions that
will be stated in each case. The director of exhibits and the
director of works, in their discretion, are authorized to
furnish gratuitously to exhibitors a limited amount of power for
the operation of machines and processes. The character of the
exhibit requiring power for its operation will have much to do
with determining the amount of power that will be furnished
gratuitously.
ARTICLE XIX.
SECTION I. Concessions may be granted for private exhibitions
for which a charge for admission may be made; for restaurants,
for places of amusement, for merchandising, and for other
purposes not incompatible with the scope and dignity of the
exposition, under terms and conditions to be determined upon by
the proper authorities in each case.
ARTICLE XX.
SECTION I. An official catalogue of all exhibits will be
published in English by the Exposition Company. Foreign
governments and the governments of the States, Territories, and
Districts of the United States, making a collective exhibit, may
publish separate catalogues of their own exhibits when
recommended by the director of exhibits to the president and
approved by him.
SEC. II. The sale of catalogues is reserved exclusively by the
Exposition Company.
ARTICLE XXI.
SECTION I. The Exposition Company will organize, equip, and
maintain an efficient police system for the protection of
property and the preservation of peace and good order.
SEC. II. The exposition will maintain a corps of janitors and
scavengers, whose duty it will be to properly care for and clean
the roadways, approaches, paths, etc., in general of the
exposition and the aisles within the exhibit buildings; but
their duties and responsibilities will not extend to exhibit
spaces, to the subsidiary aisles, or to the buildings of foreign
or domestic governments or individuals.
SEC. III. Exhibitors may employ watchmen and janitors of their
choice to guard and care for their material during the hours the
exposition is open to the public. Such watchmen will be subject
to the rules and regulations governing employees of the
exposition; but no exhibitor will be permitted to employ
attendants for service of this character except upon the written
consent of the chief of the department, approved by the director
of exhibits.
SEC. IV. Each country, commission, organization, corporation and
individual, by becoming an exhibitor, agrees to conform to all
the rules and regulations established for the government and
conduct of the exposition.
ARTICLE XXII.
AWARDS.
SECTION I The system of awards will be competitive. The merit of
exhibits as determined by the jury of awards will be manifested
by the issuance of diplomas, which will be divided into four
classes; a grand prize, a gold medal, a silver medal, and a
bronze medal.
SEC. II. No exhibit can be excluded from competition for award
without the consent of the president of the Exposition Company,
after a review of the reasons or motives by competent
authorities hereafter to be provided.
SEC. III. In a fixed ratio to the number of exhibits, but
reserving to the citizens of the United States approximately 60
per cent of the jury membership, the construction of the
international jury will be based upon a predetermined number of
judges allotted to each group of the classification and upon the
number and importance of the exhibits in such group.
SEC. IV. A chairman of the group jury will be elected by his
colleagues in each group, this chairman to become, by right of
his position, a member of the department jury, which department
jury shall in turn elect its chairman, who shall thereupon
become a member of the superior jury.
SEC. V. Special rules and regulations governing the system of
making awards and determining the extent to which foreign
countries may have representation on the juries will be
hereafter promulgated.
SEC. VI. Allotment of space for exhibitors, the classification
of exhibits, the appointment of all judges and examiners for the
exposition, and the awarding of premiums, if any, shall be done
and performed by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company,
subject, however, to the approval of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Commission.
DAVID R. FRANCIS, _President_.
Attest:
WALTER B. STEVENS,
_Secretary_.
On February 7, 1902, the Commission, subject to the approval of the
Exposition Company, which approval was thereafter given, adopted the
following general rules, prescribing the general scope of the duties to
be performed by the board of lady managers, to wit:
First. To appoint one member of all committees authorized to
award prizes for such exhibits as may have been produced in
whole or in part by female labor.
Second. To exercise general supervisory control over such
features of the exposition as may be specially devoted to
woman's work.
Third. To take part in the ceremonies connected with the
dedication of the buildings of the exposition, and in all
official functions in which women may be invited to participate,
and in other official functions upon the request of the company
and the Commission.
Fourth. To elect such officers, appoint such committees, and to
make and promulgate such rules and regulations as may be deemed
necessary for the efficient discharge of the duties aforesaid;
provided, that said board shall not make any expenditures nor
incur any financial obligation except under authority previously
obtained from the company and the Commission.
The members of the board of lady managers voluntarily proposed to serve
without compensation, and in view of such proposal, at a conference
between the Commission and the president of the Exposition Company, it
was decided to remunerate them for their traveling and other expenses
while attending meetings of the board by an allowance of 5 cents per
mile for travel and a per diem allowance of $6 in lieu of subsistence
during the sessions of the board.
It was decided, also, that the membership of the board be increased to a
maximum of 24 members.
Early in 1902 it became evident that it would be necessary to postpone
the exposition for one year, and the Exposition Company consequently
notified Congress to that effect.
In the act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the
Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1903, and for other
purposes, approved June 28, 1902, provision was made for the
postponement of the Exposition until 1904 in terms as follows:
_Provided, further:_ That sections eight and twelve of an act
entitled "An act to provide for celebrating the one hundredth
anniversary of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the
United States by holding an international exhibition of arts,
industries, manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine,
forest, and sea in the city of Saint Louis, in the State of
Missouri," approved March third, nineteen hundred and one, be,
and the same are hereby, amended so as to read as follows:
SEC. 8. That said Commission shall provide for the dedication of
the buildings of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in said city
of Saint Louis not later than the thirtieth day of April,
nineteen hundred and three, with appropriate ceremonies, and
thereafter said exposition shall be opened to visitors at such
time as may be designated by said company, subject to the
approval of said Commission, not later than the first day of
May, nineteen hundred and four, and shall be closed at such time
as the National Commission may determine, subject to the
approval of said company, but not later than the first day of
December thereafter.
SEC. 12. That the National Commission hereby authorized shall
cease to exist on the first day of July, nineteen hundred and
five.
On July 1, 1902 the following proclamation, announcing the postponement
of the exposition, was issued by the President of the United States:
Whereas the President on August 20, 1901, issued his
proclamation stating that he has been advised by the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition Commission, pursuant to the provisions of
section 9 of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1901,
entitled "An act to provide for celebrating the one hundredth
anniversary of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the
United States by holding an international exhibition of arts,
industries, manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine,
forest, and sea in the city of St. Louis, in the State of
Missouri," that provision had been made for grounds and
buildings for the uses specified in the said mentioned act of
Congress;
Whereas it was declared and proclaimed by the President in his
aforesaid proclamation that such international exhibition would
be opened in the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri,
not later than the 1st day of May, 1903, and be closed not later
than the 1st day of December thereafter;
And whereas section 8 of the act of Congress approved June 28,
1902, entitled "An act making appropriations for sundry civil
expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1903, and for other purposes," fixes a subsequent date for the
holding of the said international exhibition, and specifically
states that said Commission shall provide for the dedication of
the buildings of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in said city
of St. Louis not later than the 30th day of April, 1903, with
appropriate ceremonies, and thereafter said exposition shall be
opened to visitors at such time as may be designated by said
company, subject to the approval of said Commission, not later
than the 1st day of May, 1904, and shall be closed at such time
as the National Commission may determine, subject to the
approval of said company, but not later than the 1st day of
December thereafter;
Now, therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United
States, do hereby declare and proclaim the aforesaid provision
of law to the end that it may definitely and formally be known
that such international exhibition will be opened in the city of
St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, not later than May 1, 1904,
and will be closed not later than December 1 of that year.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the
seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the city of Washington the 1st day of July, 1902, and of
the independence of the United States the one hundred and
twenty-sixth.
[SEAL.]
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
By the President:
DAVID J. HILL,
Acting Secretary of State.
On April 30, 1903, the buildings of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
were dedicated in the city of St. Louis under the direction of the
Commission.
PROGRAMME
CENTENNIAL DAY, APRIL 30, 1903.
GRAND MARSHAL,
MAJ. GEN. HENRY C. CORBIN, UNITED STATES ARMY.
* * * * *
At 10 o'clock a.m. the freedom of the city was tendered to the President
of the United States by the mayor of St. Louis.
The military parade, composed of United States troops and the National
Guard in attendance, assembled under direction of the grand marshal and
moved from the junction of Grand avenue and Lindell boulevard promptly
at half-past 10 o'clock, preceded by the President of the United States
and official guests in carriages, through Forest Park to the exposition
grounds, where the Presidential salute was fired, and the parade was
reviewed by the President of the United States.
At 1.30 p.m. a grand band concert took place, the doors of the Liberal
Arts Building, where the dedication exercises were held, were thrown
open, and the audience seated under direction of the guards and ushers.
Promptly at 2 o'clock the assembly was called to order by Hon. David R.
Francis, president of the Exposition Company, and the following
programme was carried out:
First. Invocation by his eminence Cardinal James Gibbons, as follows:
We pray Thee, O God of might, wisdom, and justice, through Whom
authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and
judgment decreed, assist with the Holy Spirit of counsel and
fortitude the President of the United States, that his
Administration may be conducted in righteousness and be
eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides, by
encouraging due respect for virtue and religion, by a faithful
execution of the laws in justice and mercy, and by restraining
vice and immorality.
By the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of
Congress and shine forth in all their proceedings and laws
framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the
preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the
increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge, and may
perpetuate to us the blessings of equal liberty.
We pray for his excellency, the governor of this State, for the
members of the legislature, for all judges, magistrates, and
other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare,
that they may be enabled by Thy powerful protection to discharge
the duties of their respective stations with honesty and
ability.
We pray for the president and directors of the Louisiana
Purchase Exposition, that their arduous labors may be crowned
with success, and may redound to the greater growth and
development of this flourishing city on the banks of the Father
of Waters.
May this vast territory which was peacefully acquired a hundred
years ago be for all time to come the tranquil and happy abode
of millions of enlightened, God-fearing, and industrious people
engaged in the various pursuits and avocations of life. As this
new domain was added to our possessions without sanguinary
strife, so may its soil never be stained by bloodshed in any
foreign or domestic warfare.
May this commemorative exposition to which the family of nations
are generously contributing their treasures of art and industry
bind together the governments of the earth in closer ties of
fellowship and good will, and of social and commercial
intercourse. May it hasten the dawn of the reign of the Prince
of Peace, when national conflicts will be adjusted, not by
hostile armies, but by permanent courts of arbitration.
May this international exposition, inaugurated in the interests
of people and commerce, help to break down the walls of
dissension, of jealousy, and prejudice that divides race from
race, nation from nation, and people from people, by proclaiming
aloud the sublime gospel truth that we are all children of the
same God, brothers and sisters of the same Lord Jesus Christ,
and that we are all aspiring to a glorious inheritance in the
everlasting kingdom of our common Father.
Second. Address by Mr. Thomas H. Carter, of the National Commission,
president of the day.
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 and classical outlines excite the wonder and
admiration of the vast multitude assembled within and about
their walls.
To everyone present is accorded the privilege of assisting in
the dedication of these buildings to their intended use. The
President of the United States honors us by being present to
extend his greetings and to voice the approving sentiments of
his countrymen.
Moved by a broad and generous spirit, the nations of the earth,
from the empire of most ancient origin to the republic of
twentieth-century creation, dignifies the occasion by the
presence of their accredited representatives. Our home folks
from all the States, Territories, and districts betoken by their
numbers and enthusiasm the interest of the body of the people in
the exposition and the great historic event it is intended to
commemorate.
In the name of the National Commission, directed by Congress to
provide for the dedication ceremonies, I extend to you all a
cordial welcome, and as responsive to this inspiring scene of
peace and generous feeling, I call upon the chorus to favor us
with Beethoven's Creation hymn.
Those best informed will, by unanimous consent, yield to Hon.
David R. Francis, president of the company, the highest measure
of praise for the organization of the exposition and the
construction of the buildings he will now present to the
President of the United States for dedication.
Third. Grand chorus: "The Heavens Proclaiming."
Fourth. Presentation of the buildings by Hon. David R. Francis,
president of the Exposition Company:
The people of the Louisiana Purchase are proud of their
membership in the Federal Union.
They are grateful for the benefits that have flowed from a life
under the enduring institutions framed by the founders of the
Republic. They congratulate their brethren on the position our
country occupies among the nations of the earth, and felicitate
themselves on the part they have performed toward raising it to
its present prestige and power.
They felt it a patriotic duty to fittingly commemorate the
completion of the first century of their connection with the
American Republic, and the rounding out of an important epoch in
the life of the Republic. In the discharge of that duty this
exposition was conceived. The inhabitants of the fourteen States
and two Territories comprised within the purchase selected St.
Louis as the scene of the celebration.
The people of this city, grateful for the honor conferred,
promptly accepted it and cheerfully assumed the immense
responsibility it entailed. The century just closed, unequaled
as it was in every line of progress, furnishes no more striking
evidence of the advance of civilization than the development of
the Louisiana territory. A celebration in such an age and in
such a country, to be fit, should be upon a scale in keeping
with the best and the highest, and should be planned upon lines
broad enough to take in every people and every clime.
A scheme so ambitious in its inception naturally had
comparatively few advocates and encountered many antagonists and
more doubters. It could not be accomplished without the
recognition and the aid of the General Government, which, for a
time, it seemed impossible to enlist. It was decided that the
amount required to launch an undertaking so comprehensive should
be the same as that paid for the empire which Jefferson
purchased--$15,000,000. The Congress said to St. Louis, "When
you have secured two-thirds of that sum, we will provide the
remaining third." The conditions were accepted and fulfilled.
After three years of struggle the sinews had been secured--the
first step accomplished. Two years have since elapsed. During
that period the work has been pushed in every State and
Territory and possession of the United States, and in every
civilized country on the earth. The disappointments experienced
and the obstacles encountered have but served to spur to renewed
effort those who, from the inception of the movement, had
determined to carry it to a successful consummation.
The further encouragement of the General Government on the
provision for its own exhibit, the cooperation of 41 States and
Territories and possessions of the United States, the pledged
participation of 32 foreign countries are the results of
vigorous domestic and foreign exploitation. That, and what you
behold here to-day in physical shape, we submit as the product
of five years of labor, nearly four of which were devoted to
propaganda and appeal and organization.
The plan and scope, comprehensive as they were in the beginning,
have never diminished at any stage of the progress; rather have
they been amplified and enlarged.
St. Louis, with an ever-widening sense of the responsibility,
and an ever-growing appreciation of the opportunity, has, up to
this moment, risen to the full measure of the duty assumed. The
management of the exposition has never despaired, but with a
realizing sense of the mighty task it has undertaken, and
mindful of the limitations of human capabilities, with
singleness of purpose and with personal sacrifice for which it
neither asks nor deserves credit, has striven to meet the
expectations of those whose trust it holds.
The Exposition Company makes its acknowledgments to those
faithful and efficient officials whose intelligent service have
contributed so much toward bringing the enterprise to its
present stage. The company expresses its obligation to the
artists and artisans who have reared these graceful and majestic
structures and whose labors have been inspired more by pride in
the end to be achieved than by hope of material reward.
The Universal Exposition of 1904, when the date of opening rolls
around one year from to-day, will, with its buildings completed,
its exhibits installed, be thoroughly prepared to receive the
millions of visitors who will enter its gates. The distinguished
assemblage which honors us with its presence to-day can come
nearer forming an adequate conception of the scope of the work
by personal inspection than through the writings or
illustrations of authors and designers, however great their
talent may be.
To the President of the United States, to the accomplished
representatives of foreign countries, to the chief executives of
the sovereign States, to the Senators and Representatives of the
National Congress, to the great concourse of visitors here
congregated, we extend greeting. If you are pleased with what
has been accomplished, your approval is abundant reward for the
labor we have performed.
We bear in mind and trust you do not overlook that this
celebration is of no section, but of the entire country. It is
our hope and our expectation that every section and every
commonwealth, and in fact, every community, will cherish a
proprietary interest and lend hopeful aid to this undertaking,
to the end that it may prove as nearly as may be commensurate
with the country and the century whose achievement and
advancement it is designed to commemorate.
The beautiful picture whose outlines you now behold will, to
adopt the simile of the chief designer, when completed, compose
a song that will reverberate around the globe.
And now, Mr. President, it is my pleasing privilege and high
honor to present to you for dedication the buildings of the
Louisiana Purchase Exposition. May a high standard of
citizenship and broader humanity and the mission of the country
whose worthy representative you are be sustained and fostered
and promoted by the uses to which these structures are devoted.
May the happiness of mankind be advanced and broadened by the
lofty purposes that inspired this undertaking and moved our own
and sister countries to unite in its accomplishment.
Fifth. Dedication address by the President of the United States:
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: At the outset of my address
let me recall to the minds of my hearers that the soil upon
which we stand, before it was ours was successively the
possession of two mighty empires--Spain and France--whose sons
made a deathless record of heroism in the early annals of the
New World.
No history of the Western country can be written without paying
heed to the wonderful part played therein in the early days by
the soldiers, missionaries, explorers, and traders who did their
work for the honor of the proud banners of France and Castile.
While the settlers of English-speaking stock and those of Dutch,
German, and Scandinavian origin, who were associated with them,
were still clinging close to the eastern seaboard, the pioneers
of Spain and of France had penetrated deep into the hitherto
unknown wildness of the West and had wandered far and wide
within the boundaries of what is now our mighty country. The
very cities themselves--St. Louis, New Orleans, Santa Fe, N.
Mex.--bear witness by their titles to the nationalities of their
founders. It was not until the Revolution had begun that the
English-speaking settlers pushed west across the Alleghanies,
and not until a century ago that they entered in to possess the
land upon which we now stand.
We have met here to-day to commemorate the hundredth anniversary
of the event which more than any other, after the foundation of
the Government, and always excepting its preservation,
determined the character of our national life--determined that
we should be a great expanding nation instead of relatively a
small and stationary one.
Of course, it was not with the Louisiana Purchase that our
career of expansion began. In the middle of the Revolutionary
war the Illinois region, including the present States of
Illinois and Indiana, was added to our domain by force of arms,
as a sequel to the adventurous expedition of George Rogers Clark
and his frontier riflemen.
Later the treaties of Jay and Pinckney materially extended our
real boundaries to the west. But none of these events was of so
striking a character as to fix the popular imagination. The old
thirteen colonies had always claimed that their rights stretched
westward to the Mississippi, and vague and unreal though these
claims were until made good by conquest, settlement, and
diplomacy, they still served to give the impression that the
earliest westward movements of our people were little more than
the filling in of already existing national boundaries.
But there could be no illusion about the acquisition of the vast
territory beyond the Mississippi, stretching westward to the
Pacific, which in that day was known as Louisiana. This immense
region was admittedly the territory of a foreign power, of a
European kingdom. None of our people had ever laid claim to a
foot of it. Its acquisition could in no sense be treated as
rounding out any existing claims. When we acquired it, we made
evident once for all that consciously and of set purpose we had
embarked on a career of expansion; that we had taken our place
among those daring and hardy nations who risk much with the hope
and desire of winning high position among the great powers of
the earth. As is so often the case in nature the law of
development of a living organism showed itself in its actual
workings to be wiser than the wisdom of the wisest.
This work of expansion was by far the greatest work of our
people during the years that intervened between the adoption of
the Constitution and the outbreak of the civil war. There were
other questions of real moment and importance, and there were
many which at the time seemed such to those engaged in answering
them; but the greatest feat of our forefathers of those
generations was the deed of the men, who with pack train or
wagon train, on horseback, on foot, or by boat upon the waters
pushed the frontier ever westward across the continent.
Never before had the world seen the kind of national expansion
which gave our people all that part of the American continent
lying west of the thirteen original States--the greatest
landmark in which was the Louisiana Purchase. Our triumph in
this process of expansion was indissolubly bound up with the
success of our peculiar kind of Federal Government, and this
success has been so complete that because of its very
completeness we now sometimes fail to appreciate not only the
all importance but the tremendous difficulty of the problem with
which our nation was originally faced.
When our forefathers joined to call into being this nation, they
undertook a task for which there was but little encouraging
precedent. The development of civilization from the earliest
period seemed to show the truth of two propositions: In the
first place, it had always proved exceedingly difficult to
secure both freedom and strength in any Government; and in the
second place, it had always proved well-nigh impossible for a
nation to expand without either breaking up or becoming a
centralized tyranny. With the success of our effort to combine a
strong and efficient national union, able to put down disorder
at home and to maintain our honor and interest abroad, I have
not now to deal. This success was signal and all important, but
it was by no means unprecedented in the same sense that our type
of expansion was unprecedented.
The history of Rome and of Greece illustrates very well the two
types of expansion which had taken place in ancient times, and
which had been universally accepted as the only possible types
up to the period when, as a nation, we ourselves began to take
possession of this continent. The Grecian states performed
remarkable feats of colonization, but each colony as soon as
created became entirely independent of the mother state, and in
after years was almost as apt to prove its enemy as its friend.
Local self-government, local independence was secured, but only
by the absolute sacrifice of anything resembling national unity.
In consequence, the Greek world, for all its wonderful
brilliancy and extraordinary artistic, literary, and
philosophical development, which has made all mankind its debtor
for the ages, was yet wholly unable to withstand a formidable
foreign foe, save spasmodically. As soon as powerful permanent
empires arose on its outskirts, the Greek states in the
neighborhood of such empires fell under their sway. National
power and greatness were completely sacrificed to local liberty.
With Rome the exact opposite occurred. The imperial city rose to
absolute dominion over all the people of Italy, and then
expanded her rule over the entire civilized world, by a process
which kept the nation strong and united, but gave no room
whatever for local liberty and self-government. All other cities
and countries were subject to Rome. In consequence, this great
and masterful race of warriors, rulers, road builders, and
administrators stamped their indelible impress upon all the
after life of our race, and yet let an over-centralization eat
out the vitals of their empire until it became an empty shell,
so that when the barbarians came they destroyed only what had
already become worthless to the world.
The underlying viciousness of each type of expansion was plain
enough, and the remedy now seems simple enough. But when the
fathers of the Republic first formulated the Constitution under
which we live, this remedy was untried, and no one could
foretell how it would work. They themselves began the experiment
almost immediately by adding new States to the original
thirteen. Excellent people in the East viewed this initial
expansion of the country with great alarm. Exactly as during the
colonial period many good people in the mother country thought
it highly important that settlers should be kept out of the Ohio
Valley in the interest of the fur companies, so after we had
become a nation many good people on the Atlantic coast felt
grave apprehension lest they might somehow be hurt by the
westward growth of the nation.
These good people shook their heads over the formation of States
in the fertile Ohio Valley, which now forms part of the heart of
our nation, and they declared that the destruction of the
Republic had been accomplished when through the Louisiana
Purchase we acquired nearly half of what is now that same
Republic's present territory. Nor was their feeling unnatural.
Only the adventurous and the farseeing can be expected heartily
to welcome the process of expansion, for a nation which expands
is a nation which is entering upon a great career, and with
greatness there must of necessity come perils which daunt all
save the most stout-hearted.
We expand by carving the wilderness into Territories, and out of
these Territories building new States when once they had
received as permanent settlers a sufficient number of our own
people. Being a practical nation, we have never tried to force
on any section of our new territory an unsuitable form of
government merely because it was suitable for another section
under different conditions. Of the territory covered by the
Louisiana Purchase, a portion was given statehood within a few
years. Another portion has not been admitted to statehood,
although a century has elapsed, although doubtless it soon will
be. In each case we showed the practical governmental genius of
our race by devising methods suitable to meet the actual
existing needs, not by insisting upon the application of some
abstract shibboleth to all our new possessions alike, no matter
how incongruous this application might sometimes be.
Over by far the major part of the territory, however, our people
spread in such numbers during the course of the nineteenth
century that we were able to build up State after State, each
with exactly the same complete local independence in all matters
affecting purely its own domestic interests as in any of the
original thirteen States, each owing the same absolute fealty to
the Union of all the States which each of the original thirteen
States also owes, and, finally, each having the same
proportional right to its share in shaping and directing the
common policy of the Union which is possessed by any other
State, whether of the original thirteen or not.
This process now seems to us part of the natural order of
things, but it was wholly unknown until our own people devised
it. It seems to us a mere matter of course, a matter of
elementary right and justice, that in the deliberations of the
national representative bodies the representatives of a State
which came into the Union but yesterday stand on a footing of
exact and entire equality with those of the commonwealth whose
sons once signed the Declaration of Independence.
But this way of looking at the matter is purely modern and in
its origin purely American. When Washington, during his
Presidency, saw new States come into the Union on a footing of
complete equality with the old, every European nation which had
colonies still administered them as dependencies, and every
other mother country treated the colonists not as a
self-governing equal, but as a subject.
The process which we began has since been followed by all the
great people who were capable both of expansion and of
self-government, and now the world accepts it as the natural
process, as the rule; but a century and a quarter ago it was not
merely exceptional--it was unknown.
This, then, is the great historic significance of the movement
of continental expansion, in which the Louisiana Purchase was
the most striking single achievement. It stands out in marked
relief even among the feats of a nation of pioneers, a nation
whose people have, from the beginning, been picked out by a
process of natural selection from among the most enterprising
individuals of the nations of western Europe.
The acquisition of the territory is a credit to the broad and
far-sighted statesmanship of the great statesmen to whom it was
immediately due, and, above all, to the aggressive and masterful
character of the hardy pioneer folk to whose restless energy
these statesmen gave expression and direction, whom they
followed rather than led. The history of the land comprised
within the limits of the Purchase is an epitome of the entire
history of our people. Within these limits we have gradually
built up State after State, until now they many times over
surpass in wealth, in population, and in many-sided development
the original thirteen States as they were when their delegates
met in the Continental Congress.
The people of these States have shown themselves mighty in war
with their fellow-man and mighty in strength to tame the rugged
wilderness. They could not thus have conquered the forest, the
prairie, the mountain and the desert, had they not possessed the
great fighting virtues, the qualities which enable a people to
overcome the forces of hostile men and hostile nature.
On the other hand they could not have used aright their conquest
had they not in addition possessed the qualities of self-mastery
and self-restraint, the power of acting in combination with
their fellows, the power of yielding obedience to the law and of
building up an orderly civilization. Courage and hardihood are
indispensable virtues in a people, but the people which possess
no others can never rise high in the scale either of power or of
culture. Great peoples must have in addition the governmental
capacity which comes only when individuals fully recognize their
duties to one another and to the whole body politic and are able
to join together in feats of constructive statesmanship and of
honest and effective administration.
The old pioneer days are gone with their roughness and their
hardship, their incredible toil and their wild, half-savage
romance. But the need for the pioneer virtues remains the same
as ever. The peculiar frontier conditions have vanished; but the
manliness and stalwart hardihood of the frontiersman can be
given even freer scope under the conditions surrounding the
complex industrialism of the present day.
In this great region acquired for our people under the
presidency of Jefferson, this region stretching from the Gulf to
the Canadian border, from the Mississippi to the Rockies, the
material and social progress has been so vast that alike for
weal and for woe, the people share the opportunities and bear
the burdens common to the entire civilized world. The problems
before us are fundamentally the same east and west of the
Mississippi, in the new States and in the old, and exactly the
same qualities are required for their successful solution.
We meet here to-day to commemorate a great event, an event which
marks an era in statesmanship no less than in pioneering. It is
fitting that we should pay our homage in words; but we must in
honor make our words good by deeds. We have every right to take
a just pride in the great deeds of our forefathers; but we show
ourselves unworthy to be their descendants if we make what they
did an excuse for our lying supine instead of an incentive to
the effort to show ourselves, by our acts, worthy of them. In
the administration of city, State, and nation, in the management
of our home life and conduct of our business and social
relations, we are bound to show certain high and fine qualities
of character under penalty of seeing the whole heart of our
civilization eaten out while the body still lives.
We justly pride ourselves on our marvelous material prosperity,
and such prosperity must exist in order to establish a
foundation upon which a higher life can be built; but unless we
do in very fact build this higher life thereon, the material
prosperity itself will go but for very little. Now, in 1903, in
the altered conditions, we must meet the changed and changing
problems with the spirit shown by the men who in 1803 and in
subsequent years, gained, explored, conquered, and settled this
vast territory, then a desert, now filled with thriving and
populous States.
The old days were great because the men who lived in them had
mighty qualities; and we must make the new days great by showing
the same qualities. We must insist upon courage and resolution,
upon hardihood, tenacity, and fertility in resource; we must
insist upon the strong virile virtues; and we must insist no
less upon the virtues of self-restraint, self-mastery, regard
for the rights of others; we must show our abhorrence of
cruelty, brutality, and corruption, in public and private life
alike.
If we come short in any of these qualities we shall measurably
fail; and if, as I believe we surely shall, we develop these
qualities in the future to an even greater degree than in the
past, then in the century now beginning we shall make of this
Republic the freest and most orderly, the most just and most
mighty nation which has ever come forth from the womb of time.
Sixth. Grand chorus: "Unfold Ye Portals."
Seventh. Address by Hon. Grover Cleveland:
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: The impressiveness of this
occasion is greatly enhanced by reason of an atmosphere of
prophecy's fulfillment which surrounds it. The thought is in our
minds that we are amid awe-inspiring surroundings, where we may
see and feel things foretold a century ago. We are here in
recognition of the one hundredth anniversary of an event which
doubled the area of the young American nation, and dedicated a
new and wide domain of American progress and achievement. The
treaty whose completion we to-day commemorate was itself a
prophecy of our youthful nation's mighty growth and development.
At its birth prophets in waiting joyously foretold the happiness
which its future promised. He who was the chief actor in the
United States in its negotiations, as he signed the perfected
instrument, thus declared its effect and far-reaching
consequences: "The instrument which we have just signed will
cause no tears to be shed. It prepares ages of happiness for
innumerable generations of human creatures. The Mississippi and
the Missouri will see them succeed one another, truly worthy of
the regard and care of Providence in the bosom of equality under
just laws, freed from the errors of superstition and the
scourges of bad government."
He who represented the nation with whom we negotiated, when he
afterwards gave to the world his account of the transactions,
declared: "The consequences of the cession of Louisiana will
extend to the most distant posterity. It interests vast regions
that will become by their civilization and power the rivals of
Europe before another century commences," and warmed to
enthusiasm by the developments already in view and greater ones
promised, he added: "Who can contemplate without vivid emotion
this spectacle of the happiness of the present generation and
the certain pledges of the prosperity of numberless generations
that will follow? At these magnificent prospects the heart beats
with joy in the breasts of those who were permitted to see the
dawn of these bright days, and who are assured that so many
happy presages will be accomplished."
There was another prophet, greater than all--prophet and
priest--who, higher up the mountain than others, heard more
distinctly the voice of destiny, whose heart and soul were full
of prophecy and whose every faculty was tense and strong as he
wrought for our nation's advancement and for the peace and
contentment of his fellow-countryman. From the fullness of
gratitude and joy, he thus wrote to one who had assisted in the
consummation of this great treaty:
"For myself and my country, I thank you for the aid you have
given in it; and I congratulate you on having lived to give
these aids in a transaction replete with blessings to unborn
millions of men, and which will mark the face of a portion of
the globe so extensive as that which now composes the United
States of America;" and when, as President, he gave notice in a
message to Congress of the actual occupancy by the Government of
its new acquisition, he happily presaged the future and gave
assurance of his complete faith and confidence in the beneficent
result of our nation's extensions, in these words: "On this
important acquisition, so favorable to the immediate interests
of our western citizens, so auspicious to the peace and security
of the nation in general, which adds to our country territories
so extensive and fertile and to our citizens new brethren to
partake of the blessings of freedom and self-government, I offer
Congress and our country my sincere congratulations."
Our prophets do not live forever. They are not here to see how
stupendously the growth and development of the American nation,
or the domain newly acquired in their day, have, during a short
century, outrun their anticipations and predictions.
Almost within the limits of the territory gained by the
Louisiana purchase, we have already carved out twelve great
States, leaving still a large residue whose occupants are even
now loudly clamoring for statehood.
Instead of the 50,000 white settlers who occupied this domain in
1803, it now contains 15,000,000 of industrious, enterprising,
intelligent Americans, constituting about one-fifth of the
population of all our States; and these are defiantly contesting
for premiership in wealth and material success with the oldest
of our States, and are their equals in every phase of advanced
intelligence and refined civilization.
The States which composed the Union when its possessions were so
greatly extended have since that time seen the center of the
nation's population carried more than 500 miles westward by the
swift and constant current of settlement toward this new domain;
and the citizens of these States have been flocking thither,
"new brethren to partake of the blessings of freedom and
self-government," in multitudes greater than even Jefferson
would have dared to foretell.
I shall not enter the field of statistics for the purpose of
giving details of the development of the territory acquired
under the treaty we commemorate. I have referred to such
development in some of its general features by way of suggesting
how distinctly the century just ended gives assurance of a
startling and superabundant final fulfillment of the prophecies
of its beginners.
The supreme importance of the Louisiana purchase and its value
as a national accomplishment, when seen in the incidents of its
short history and in the light of its present and prospective
effects, and judged solely by its palpable and independent
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