Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
by
Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
Part 2 out of 16
merits, can not be better characterized than by the adoption of
the following language from the pen of a brilliant American
historian: "The annexation of Louisiana was an event so
portentious as to defy measurement. It gave a new face to
politics and ranked in historical importance next to the
Declaration of Independence and the adoption of the
Constitution, events of which it was the logical outcome. But as
a matter of diplomacy it was unparalleled because it cost almost
nothing."
How fitting on every ground it is that the centennial of this
stupendous event should be joyously and appropriately
celebrated; and that it should be celebrated here in the most
populous of the States created from the territory which the
Louisiana purchase gave to us. And how in keeping it is with the
character of this acquisition and with its purpose and mission
that our celebration should not waste itself on the pomp and
pageantry that belongs to the triumphs and spoils of war, or to
the rapacious dispossessions of ruthless conquest. Every feature
of our celebration should remind us that we memorialize a
peaceful acquisition of territory for truly American uses and
purposes; and we should rejoice not only because this
acquisition immediately gave peace and contentment to the
spirited and determined American settlers who demanded an outlet
of trade to the sea, but also because it provided homes and
means of livelihood for the millions of new Americans whose
coming tread fell upon the ears of the expectant fathers of the
Republic, and whose stout hearts and brawny arms wrought the
miracles which our celebration should interpret.
We are here at this hour to dedicate beautiful and stately
edifices to the purposes of our commemoration, but as we do this
let us remember that the soil whereon we stand was a century ago
dedicated to the genius of American industry and thrift. For
every reason, nothing could be more appropriate as an important
part of the centennial commemoration we have undertaken than the
gathering together on this spot of the things that are
characteristic of American effort and which tell the story of
American achievement; and how happily will this be supplemented
and crowned by the generous, magnanimous, and instructive
contributions from other and older lands, which, standing side
by side with our exhibits, shall manifest the high and friendly
regard our Republic has gained among the governments of the
earth, and shall demonstrate how greatly advancing civilization
has fostered and stimulated the brotherhood of nations.
I can not, however, rid myself of the feeling that the
inspiration and value attending such an exposition may be
anticipated and increased if on this dedicatory occasion we
promote appropriate reflections by a retrospection of some of
the incidents which accompanied the event we celebrate.
We all know that long before the negotiations of the treaty of
1803 our Government had a keen appreciation of the importance to
American settlers in the valley of the Mississippi of an
arrangement permitting their products to be deposited and
exported at the entrance of that river to the sea. It will be
remembered that this need of our settlers had been met in a
limited and not altogether secure manner by a treaty with Spain,
allowing such deposits and exports to be made at the city of New
Orleans. This privilege was entirely withdrawn in October, 1792,
the territory appurtenant to such privilege having been in the
meantime transferred to France. The situation thus created was
extremely delicate. There was presented to the Government on the
one hand the injury to western settlers through the loss of
their trading outlet, and on the other the perplexing question
of affording them relief by means of diplomatic agreement, or in
some other method. The abandonment of our settlers to their
disheartening fate was of course not contemplated.
It can not be denied that the conditions plainly pointed to
cautious and deliberate negotiations as the way of prudence and
safety. It very soon became apparent, however, that delay and
too much deliberation did not suit the temper and spirit of
sturdy Americans chafing under a sense of wrong and convinced
that they were entitled to prompt assistance. The inhabitants of
our territory bounding on the east side of the Mississippi, in a
memorial addressed to the President, Senate, and House of
Representatives, after reciting their discouraging conditions
and expressing their faith in the Government's disposition to
extend the necessary aid, closed their memorial with these
significant words: "And so far as may depend on ourselves, we
tender to our country our lives and fortunes in support of such
measures as Congress may deem necessary to vindicate the honor
and protect the interests of the United States."
The settlers in the States "west of the Allegheny Mountains"
also, in a memorial to the Government, clearly indicated their
impatience and readiness for extreme action, declared that
prompt and decisive measures were necessary, and referred to the
maxim that protection and allegiance are reciprocal as being
particularly applicable to their situation. They concluded their
statement with these solemn words: "Without interfering in the
measures that have been adopted to bring about the amicable
arrangement of a difference which has grown out of the
gratuitous violation of a solemn treaty, they desire that the
United States may explicitly understand that their condition is
critical; that the delay of a single season would be ruinous to
their country, and that an imperious necessity may consequently
oblige them, if they receive no aid, to adopt themselves the
measures that may appear to them calculated to protect their
commerce, even though those measures should produce consequences
unfavorable to the harmony of the Confederacy."
These representations emphasized the apprehension of those
charged with governmental affairs that the course of deliberate
caution and waiting, which up to that time had appeared to be
the only one permissible, might be insufficient to meet the
situation, and that whatever the result might be, a more
pronounced position and more urgent action should be entered
upon. President Jefferson wrote to a friend on the 1st of
February, 1803: "Our circumstances are so imperious as to admit
of no delay as to our course, and the use of the Mississippi so
indispensible that we can not hesitate one moment to hazard our
existence for its maintenance." He appointed an additional envoy
to cooperate with our representative already at the French
capital in an attempt to obtain a concession that would cure the
difficulty, and, in a communication to him, after referring to
the excitement caused by the withdrawal of the right of deposit,
he thus characterizes the condition which he believed confronted
the nation: "On the event of this mission depend the future
destinies of this Republic. If we can not by a purchase of the
country insure to ourselves a course of perpetual peace and
friendship of all nations, then, as war can not be far distant,
it behooves us immediately to be preparing for that course,
though not hastening it."
I have not recited these details for the purpose of claiming
that this accelerated speed and advanced position on the part of
our Government had any important effect in hastening final
results. I have thought it not amiss, however, to call attention
to the fact that a century ago the people of this country were
not seeking to gain governmental benefit by clandestine approach
and cunning pretense, but were apt to plainly present their
wants and grievances, and to openly demand such consideration
and care from the General Government as was their due under the
mandate of popular rule, and that in making their demands they
relied on the mutual obligation of the relationship between the
governed and those invested with authority, and invoked the
reciprocity in political duty which enjoins that for the
people's obedience and support of government, there shall be
given in exchange, by the Government to the people, defense of
their personal rights and the assurance that in safety and peace
they shall surely reap the fruits of their enterprise and labor.
It may also be well to note the efficacy of the people's call
upon the Government in those early days, and how quickly the
response came; not by yielding to gusts of popular whim and
caprice; not by conferring benefits upon the few at the expense
of the many; but by a quick observation of the fact that the
withdrawal of certain rightful privilege by another nation from
American settlers had caused them distress, and by a prompt
determination to relieve their distress, even if the unwelcome
visage of war frowned in opposition.
Another incident which, it seems to me, we may recall to-day
with profit and satisfaction, grew out of the conduct of the
President when the treaty of 1803 had been formulated and was
returned to him for ratification and final completion. He was,
as is well known, originally quite firm in his belief that the
Constitution as it stood did not authorize such an extension of
our limits by purchase as the treaty for the acquisition of the
Louisiana Territory contemplated. Holding this opinion, and at
the same time confronted with the clear conviction that the
treaty, with all its stupendous advantages, could not be allowed
to fail without positive peril, if not to our national life, at
least to its most vital object and aspirations, his perplexity
was increased by the receipt of an authoritative intimation that
any delay in final action on the treaty might open the way to a
recession on the part of France. In these circumstances, not
daring to risk the delay of an amendment to the Constitution
prior to such final action, he proposed reconciling consistency
with duty by procuring confirmation of the treaty by the Senate
and compassing its unquestionable validation by a subsequent
constitutional amendment.
In view of the conclusive statement, since that time of this
constitutional question by every branch of the Government
against Mr. Jefferson's original opinion and in favor of the
nation's power to acquire territory, as was done under the
treaty of 1803, and considering the fact that we have since that
time immensely increased our area by the acquisition, not only
of neighboring territory, but of distant islands of the sea,
separated by thousands of miles from our home domain, we may be
inclined to think lightly of President Jefferson's scruples
concerning the acquisition of lands, not only next adjacent to
us, but indisputably necessary to our peace and development.
There were wise men near our President in 1803 who differed with
him touching the nation's power to acquire new territory under
the original provisions of the Constitution; and these men did
not fail to make known their dissent. Moreover, in the Senate,
to which the treaty was submitted for confirmation, there was an
able discussion of its constitutional validity and
effectiveness. The judgment of that body on this phase of the
subject was emphatically declared, when out of 31 votes 24 were
cast in favor of confirmation. An amendment to the Constitution
was afterwards presented to Congress, but its first appearance
was its last. It does not appear that the President interested
himself in its fate, and it died at the moment of introduction.
While in this day and generation we may wonder at the doubts
which so perplexed Jefferson in 1803 and at his estimate of the
limitation of our fundamental law, and may be startled when we
reflect that if they had been allowed to control his action we
might have lost the greatest national opportunity which has been
presented to our people since the adoption of the Constitution,
we can not fail at the same time to be profoundly grateful that
these doubts and this estimate were those of a man sincere
enough and patriotic enough to listen to wise and able
counselors and to give his country the benefit of his admission
of the fallibility of his judgment.
Thomas Jefferson never furnished better evidence of his
greatness than when, just before the submission of the treaty to
the Senate, he wrote to a distinguished Senator who differed
with him on this question: "I confess that I think it important
in the present case to set an example against broad construction
by appealing for new power to the people. If, however, our
friends shall think differently, certainly I shall acquiesce
with satisfaction, confiding that the good sense of our country
will correct the evil of construction when it shall produce ill
effects."
A recent writer on American diplomacy, who is not suspected of
partiality for Jeffersonian political doctrine, gave in strong
and graceful terms a good reason for our gratitude to-day, when,
in referring to this subject, he wrote: "It was fortunate for
the future of America that we had at the head of affairs a man
of such broad views of our country's future. A less able
President, with the same views as entertained by Jefferson as to
the constitutionality of the measure would have put aside the
opportunity. Jefferson put aside his preconceived views as to
the fundamental law; or subordinated them to the will of the
nation and welcomed the opportunity to open up the continent to
the expansion of American democracy and free institutions."
We are glad at this hour that Jefferson was wrong in his adverse
construction of the Constitution and glad that he was liberal
minded enough to see that he might be wrong. And yet may we not
profitably pause here long enough to contrast in our thoughts
the careful and reverent manner in which the restrictions of our
fundamental law were scrutinized a hundred years ago with the
tendency often seen in later times to flippantly attempt the
adjustment of our Constitution to the purposes of interest and
convenience?
In conclusion, I hope I may be permitted to suggest that our
thoughts and surroundings on this occasion should lead us to
humble recognition of the providence of God in all that has made
us a great nation. From our beginning as a people our course has
been marked by concurrences and incidents so striking, so
significant and so constant, that only superstitious dullness or
intellectual blindness will place them to the credit of luck or
chance.
In the midst of our rejoicing to-day it is peculiarly fitting
that we recall with soberness and meekness some of the happiness
in connection with the great event we celebrate, which
impressively illustrate the interposition of Divine Providence
in our behalf. We sought from a nation ruled by one whose
ambition was boundless and whose scheme for aggrandizement knew
neither the obligations of public morality nor the restraints of
good faith, the free navigation of the Mississippi River, and
such insignificant territory as would make such navigation
useful. While our efforts toward the accomplishment of this
slight result languished and were fast assuming a hopeless
condition, the autocrat of France suddenly commanded one of his
ministers to enter into negotiations with our waiting and
dispirited representatives and exclaimed: "I renounce Louisiana.
It is not only New Orleans I cede. It is the whole colony
without reserve."
It was only nineteen days thereafter that the treaty
transferring to us the magnificent domain comprised within the
Louisiana Purchase was concluded.
This astonishing change in our prospects, which dissipated the
fears and apprehensions of our Government and revived the
promise of our perpetuity and happy destiny, came at the very
moment that Bonaparte was organizing a force to occupy the
Louisiana Territory in the prosecution of colonial occupation
and development, which, if consummated, would probably have
closed the door even to the slight acquisition which we
originally sought. The French colony of Santo Domingo was,
however, a prime factor in this scheme of occupation, and it was
essential to its success that this colony and Louisiana should
both be included and should supplement each other. A serious
revolt then raging in Santo Domingo delaying proceedings, the
occupation of Louisiana was postponed until this revolt should
be overcome. The troops sent from France to accomplish this
apparently easy task were so stubbornly resisted by hundreds of
thousands of freed blacks fighting against their reenslavement,
and they suffered so terribly from climatic conditions and
deadly fever, that after the sacrifice of 25,000 soldiers, many
of whom were intended for the subsequent occupation of
Louisiana, Bonaparte's plan for the occupation of both colonies
miscarried. The disappointment and the conception of new schemes
of war and conquest by the restless dictator of France, and his
need of money to carry out these schemes, were controlling
circumstances in leading him to throw in our lap the entire
Louisiana Territory. None of these circumstances were within our
procurement or knowledge; but who shall say that God was not
accomplishing His designs in our behalf amid the turmoil and
distressing scenes of Santo Domingo's revolt? And how can it be
said that there was no Providence in the unexpected unyielding
and successful fight for continued freedom on the part of the
negroes of Santo Domingo, or in the fatal pestilence that vied
with bloody warfare in the destruction of the army of
subjugation, or in the fever of war and aggression which heated
the blood of Bonaparte, all combining to turn him away from the
occupation of the Louisiana Territory? All these things, so
remote and so far out of sight, pointed with the coercion that
belongs to the decrees of God to a consummation which restored
to our people peace and contentment, and secured to our nation
extension and development beyond the dreams of our fathers.
Thus we may well recall in these surroundings the wonderful
measure of prophecy's fulfillment within the span of a short
century, the spirit, the patriotism, and the civic virtue of
Americans who lived a hundred years ago, and God's overruling of
the wrath of man and His devious ways for the blessing of our
nation.
We are all proud of our American citizenship. Let us leave this
place with this feeling stimulated by the sentiments born of the
occasion. Let us appreciate more keenly than ever how vitally
necessary it is to our country's weal that everyone within its
citizenship should be clean minded in political aim and
aspiration, sincere and honest in his conception of our
country's mission, and aroused to higher and more responsive
patriotism by the reflection that it is a solemn thing to belong
to a people favored of God.
Eighth. "America," with full chorus and band accompaniment.
Ninth. Prayer by Bishop E.R. Hendrix:
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we devoutly thank and worship
Thee, the Author of our being, and the gracious source of all
our blessings. We are because Thou art; and Thou hast made us in
Thy image capable of fellowship with Thee and delighting in a
fellowship with one another as we resemble Thee. Thou hast given
us our reason and the power of cooperation with one another in
all worthy ends looking to the well-being of our race.
Civilization with its conquests over the material world is
possible only with Thy aid. Christianity with its conquests over
evil is the work of God and man, as Thou dost call us to be Thy
fellow-workers and dost inspire us with courage and faith.
This wonderful achievement of human effort and skill which we
dedicate this day is possible only by Thy help and as we have
imitated Thy example. Thou art the great Architect and Builder.
Thou art the great Mathematician and Engineer. Thou art the
great Chemist and Electrician. Thou art the great Thinker and
Artist. Our works are but pale and feeble copies of Thine, and
are possible only because Thou workest until now and dost bless
our works. The uniformity of Thy laws bids us work in
confidence, and the unity of nature bids us work intelligently,
because we work with Thee. We praise Thee for thy growing
confidence in man, as Thou dost place in his hand the keys of
every laboratory and dost trust him with the secrets of nature
that have been hid from the foundation of the world. Again Thou
dost give man dominion, whether in science, or art, or
government, nor wilt Thou remove his scepter if he wield it for
the betterment of his kind and for Thy glory. As the high priest
and interpreter of nature may he prove worthy of his great
trust.
We thank Thee for this great exposition, whose stately and noble
exterior gives promise of being the home of a mighty spirit of
worldwide fellowship of the nations. It is not only another
milestone of progress, it is a timekeeper of civilization. We
thank Thee for the pioneers and the prophets, the statesmen and
the patriots who secured for us this great inheritance, and for
their sons who have cultivated and developed it. Help us that we
may realize the high ideals of our fathers who sought to
establish and maintain good and righteous government, and to
reap the harvests of patient industry. May no evil occurrence
mar the happiness and good will which we invoke for the council
of nations which shall here be held. May the commerce of ideas
no less than of products be borne by favoring tides around the
globe. To this end we implore Thy blessings upon the rulers of
the nations of the earth which may be presented here. Grant
peace in our time, O Lord, and may the victories of peace
abound.
And now, O Lord, our God, we dedicate to Thee and to the welfare
of our common humanity these buildings and grounds which Thy
providence has made possible. Bless with Thy presence and favor
this great festival of the nations that it may help to make
stronger the bonds of human brotherhood in all the world. And
all this we ask in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Tenth. Benediction by Right Rev. Henry C. Potter:
May the blessing of the Lord God Almighty, without whom all our
labor is but vain, rest upon this work, and all who are or shall
be engaged in it.
May He take these buildings under His gracious keeping and crown
this great undertaking with His enduring favor, making it the
school of truth and beauty and so a revelation of His infinite
mind working and through the mind of man. And to Him be glory
and honor and power now and always.
The Lord bless us and keep us; the Lord make His face to shine
upon us and be gracious unto us; the Lord lift up the light of
His countenance upon us and give to us and to all the people of
this land peace, purity, and prosperity, both now and
forevermore. Amen.
Eleventh. Centennial salute of 100 guns.
At 8 o'clock p. m. a grand pyrotechnic display took place on the open
grounds south of the Administration Building.
PROGRAMME
DIPLOMATIC DAY, MAY 1, 1902.
At 10.30 a. m. the members of the Diplomatic Corps, the representatives
of the foreign governments to the exposition, and other official guests
assembled at the St. Louis Club, and they were then conducted by
military escort to the Liberal Arts Building.
At 12 o'clock m. the assembly was called to order by Mr. Corwin H.
Spencer, chairman of the committee on ceremonies of the Exposition
Company, and the following programme was carried out:
First. Invocation by Rev. Carl Swenson:
Great God, the God of our fathers and of their children, accept
our heartfelt worship and gratitude. We bless Thy holy name for
that wonderful providence of bountiful love and inspiring
benevolence by which Thou hast made us a great and mighty nation
out of an insignificant, struggling, and sorrow-laden beginning.
We render willing and adoring worship to Thee for that divine
guidance and wisdom so admirably exhibited in the wide-visioned
policy in the nation's most inspired leaders a hundred years
ago, and to-day the policy which in one brief century has
created an empire of a dozen magnificent Commonwealths of an
unknown expanse of uninhabited wilderness and desert.
Vouchsafe ever to us as a people leaders of prophetic
understanding, who in an uncertain present fathom the true
inwardness of conditions pregnated with the greatest
possibilities for a future of ever increasing proportions and
realizations.
We thank Thee for the wealth of hope and promise implied in the
dedication and completion of this unparalleled congress of
peace, good will, and universal fraternity, made possible not
only by the enterprise, patriotism, and gratitude of this
splendid Commonwealth and our own entire people, but also by the
responsive, generous, and helpful cooperation of the nations of
the whole world.
We pray for Thy blessing, guidance, and love upon every national
life here represented. May, in Thy beneficent providence, the
inspiring competitions and tournaments so necessary between one
people and another become an ennobling race for a higher culture
of the human heart and mind; a more universal usage of the
forces of nature for the best interests of man and for the full
fruition for each and every one of the unexampled industrial and
commercial activities which has taken possession of the
civilized world.
We pray Thee that the forces ever jointly employed in producing
the advance of a free people may learn better to understand
their mutual relationship.
Liberate and save capital from every alleged and real form of a
grasping, destructive, and disloyal selfishness, which may turn
even the present midday of national prosperity and contentment
into the threatening deepening gloom of an advancing cyclone of
unavoidable loss and destruction.
Give to the possessors of our fabulous wealth an ever-increasing
philanthropy, devoting a surplus of possessions unheard of by
our fathers to education, literature, arts, and mercy, thereby
making themselves the beloved and blessed favorites of a happy
and grateful people.
We pray Thee that labor and toil may ever be held in due honor
and respect in our broad land. Help us to realize that labor, be
it of hand or brains, is the sinews and backbone alike of our
past, present, and future as a free people.
Grant, O God, to the leaders in the world of labor the highest
and most patriotic ideals of citizenship--ideals and purposes
commending themselves to the intelligence and justice of the
entire people.
And as neither capital alone, nor labor alone, could have built
this wonderful exposition, grant, O God, that capital and labor
all over our glorious land may learn to join hands in
fair-minded cooperation for the upbuilding of such conditions of
society which will prove an inspiration to ourselves and a
worthy example to others, ending all forms of illegal coercion
by one party or the other, and calling into permanent existence
that truest and greatest America which is ever the dream of
loyal and patriotic hearts.
We pray Thee help us to realize and profess, amidst the
justifiable joy of a happy people, that Thou art God alone, and
that there is salvation only in the name of the Blessed
Redeemer. Grant that we may continually see in the cross on
Calvary the tested emblem of a new life for time and eternity, a
life of insight, energy, and the power of universally recognized
leadership ever characterizing the nation whose boon is the
Bible and whose master is Christ. Bless and protect the
President of our nation, the governor of the State, the mayor of
this city, and the president of this exposition, with all their
associations. God of our fathers, give unto us all that
sincerity of purpose, that rectitude of action so necessary for
the preservation of our rights and privileges. Make us the
toiling means for promulgating for Thee, and ever more
successfully, the divine message of the Fatherhood of God and
the brotherhood of man, and to Thee, the Father and the Son and
the Holy Ghost, shall be glory now and forevermore. Amen.
Second. The following is a brief outline of the sentiments expressed by
Mr. Thurston, president of the day:
We are here to welcome the ambassadors, ministers, and
representatives of friendly foreign nations.
Here we gather to commemorate an event which changed the whole
history of America, for the acquisition of the Louisiana
Purchase extended the boundaries of the young Republic, which up
to that time had no seacoast, except that of the Atlantic Ocean
on the east, and gave us a continental domain extending from
ocean to ocean.
We come here to celebrate, through this magnificent exposition,
the centennial anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. This is
not an exposition of a city or of a State, or even of the United
States; it is an exposition of and for the world.
Gentlemen, our visitors and our friends, in this temple of
peace, dedicated to the progress of man, your presence is
significant of the friendliness to us and toward each other of
the nations of the world. May we not hope that in the electric
splendor of the twentieth century there will come to all peoples
a living exemplification of the words of the Master, "Peace on
earth, good will toward men."
Third. Greeting to the representatives of foreign governments, from the
Universal Exposition of 1904, by Hon. David R. Francis, president of the
Exposition Company:
The Universal Exposition of 1904 extends a cordial greeting to
the distinguished representatives of foreign countries who favor
us with their presence on this memorable occasion.
An assembling of envoys of organized governments, however
limited in their number and whatever its object may be, is
characteristic of a high civilization; but when that convening
is as general in its character as this, it indicates marked
progress in the establishment of a better understanding between
interests and policies long antagonistic and at variance.
And when the object of such a meeting is, as in this case, to
establish and cement friendly relations between people who
differ in form of government, in religion, and in race, it means
a distinct step toward the organization of a parliament, an
accomplishment worthy of highest endeavor, because its
consummation would result in universal peace.
When the civilized nations of the earth meet in friendly
rivalry, their better acquaintance engenders increased respect.
The closer commercial relations that follow are conducive to
mutual benefit. They efface prejudice, they broaden sympathies,
they deepen and widen the foundations of human progress.
The civilization of past ages would have experienced no
overthrows if they had been based on intelligence of the masses
and had been imbued with broader humanity which distinguishes
and ennobles the fraternal spirit of the twentieth century.
The cycle of one hundred years, whose close we have just passed,
incomparable as it was in the discovery and the invention and
the application of forces and methods in the physical world, and
remarkable as it was for an advancement in every line of thought
and research, will be surpassed and distanced by the new century
upon which we have entered if the material potentialities and
the intellectual faculties of mankind can be utilized and
trained toward a common end, and that end the uplifting of the
human race and the promotion of its happiness.
Concomitant with industrial progress is social development. The
policy of engaging in foreign wars in order to prevent or to
pacify domestic unrest may have been wise if not humane, but the
time for such a policy has passed. That government is strongest
whose subjects are intelligent and contented. Contentment
follows the employment of intellectual faculties, in the
development of natural resources, and in the production of those
activities that result in greater comforts of living and higher
planes of thought. The bringing together in a Universal
Exposition of the best that all civilized countries have
produced, opens to all who participate new lines of thought,
better methods and better appliances, and, therefore, conduces
to the material benefit of every country participating. It
promotes universal economy of human endeavor by enabling the
countries taking part to determine through a comparison of their
exhibits the lines in which they can produce the best results.
The economy of the world for saving time and energy by the
adaptation of physical and intellectual forces to pursuits in
which they are most effective, is a profitable study for
nations, as it is for individuals. Hand in hand, however, with
such occupation should go the cultivation of the taste for the
beautiful, and an abounding conviction that man is his brother's
keeper and has an inalienable obligation to better the condition
of his fellows.
The International Exposition whose dedication you honor by your
presence, was conceived in an effort to commemorate a great
achievement which has proven a potent factor in increasing our
wealth and sustaining our institutions and perpetuating our
independence.
The interest manifested by the governments and people whom you
represent in pledges of participating has been encouraging and
helpful in the highest degree, and we are glad of the
opportunity to express our deep gratitude. Your coming enables
us to show you the scope of the undertaking we have launched.
Our plans are ambitious and our hopes high, but we are energetic
and untiring, and with your recognition and assistance we expect
to carry to a successful consummation an enterprise which will
not only assemble the natural resources of the earth and bring
together the best products of human skill, but will be the
occasion for eliciting the expression of the best thought and
for classifying and systematizing all human knowledge.
We hope this exposition will be an epitome of the progress of
the world from the beginning of history. The nineteenth century
was characterized by unprecedented and almost incomprehensible
industrial advancement. The earth was made to reveal its hidden
treasures. The unknown forces of nature were harnessed and
utilized. Lines of commerce were established which encircle the
earth.
Sections of the globe remote and almost unknown to each other
were brought into close communication and friendly relation. It
would seem that there is little to be done in the field of
scientific effort. But every discovery and every advance opens a
broader plane for the exercise of human ingenuity.
The problems, however, that seem to confront us most prominently
to-day, and that require for their solution not only experience
and intelligence, but fraternal sentiment as well, are those of
a social character. The aggregation that we call society is
bound together by ties of sympathy, strengthened it may be by
culture, but often strained by selfishness and pride. The
relation of man to nature and her physical forces commands the
highest functions of the mind, but the relation of man to his
fellows not only enlists the highest intellectual effort, but
requires that it be tempered by impulses of human kindness.
Those who have as the mainspring of their actions the elevation
of their fellows live and move upon a higher plane and are
better members of society than those who subordinate sentiment
and sympathy to gain and power.
The earth in its fertility and resourcefulness furnishes
material sufficient to maintain in comfort all of its sons. If
their genius and energy could be devoted to the utilization of
that material instead of to a continuous struggle between
themselves for occupation and possession, the destiny of the
human race would be higher and nobler and nearer in accord with
the immortal principles enunciated by Him whose life and
teachings have for nearly two thousand years been a rule of
conduct for man, while broadening his usefulness and enhancing
his happiness.
That this exposition may be a powerful aid in the elevation and
advancement of the human race is the prayer of those who
organized and have brought it to its present stage of progress.
That the countries for which you stand may unite with us in
promoting an undertaking fraught with much good to humanity is
the earnest wish of the local management and the sincere hope of
every right-thinking citizen of the American Republic.
Again, I welcome you as guests whom we delight to honor for your
personal worth, as well as for what you represent.
Fourth. Music, United States Marine Band, "Marseillaise Hymn of
Liberty."
Fifth. Address by the French ambassador, M. Jean J. Jusserand:
When the treaty signed in Paris one hundred years ago, and by
which the area of the United States was to be more than doubled,
stood for ratification before Congress, there were, contrary to
what we might suppose, protracted discussions and objections of
many sorts. Some thought that the title to the new acquisition
was not a sufficient one; others were anxious on account of the
very magnitude of the new territories, and expressed the fear
that the federal tie would be loosened if extended to such
remote and partially unknown regions. Many were the criticisms
and long the speeches.
Senator Jackson, of Georgia, rose and turning toward one of the
hostile parties, said: "In a century, sir, we shall be well
populated * * * and instead of the description given of it by
the honorable gentleman, instead of howling wilderness where no
civilized foot shall ever tread, if we could return at the
proper period, we should find it the seat of science and
civilization."
Senator Jackson's time has come the very year he named; one
century has just elapsed since he spoke. If he could return
among us, he would see no howling wilderness, but one of the
most brilliant gatherings which this country has ever beheld,
including the Chief of the State and a former Chief of the
State, representatives of all the powers of the globe, soldiers
and sailors, priests, magistrates, savants, artists, tradesmen
and agriculturists, workmen and citizens innumerable, all bent
upon consecrating by their presence and homage the work done
during the hundred years. Good work indeed; nay, stupendous.
Sanguine as he was, Senator Jackson would, I think, scarcely
believe his eyes and ears if he saw the matchless sight we
presently behold, and the preparation for the pending exhibition
of the produce, all the discoveries, all the art of the wide
earth.
He would scarcely believe his ears if he heard that we came in
twenty-seven hours from the place where he had delivered his
prophecy and which had become only two years before the seat of
Government. No less would be his surprise, if he learned that
the supposed "howling wilderness" had been turned into an
immense garden, dotted with wealthy towns; that all the land
called in his days Louisiana produces yearly now millions of
bushels of various kinds of grain, and that the private
belongings of the successors of the scattered settlers of his
time are valued in ours at many millions of dollars.
But he would not be surprised if he learned that the federal tie
has not been loosened; that the number of States has increased,
their wealth, too, the number of their inhabitants, their
importance in every respect, and that they consider as more and
more sacred the bond which unites them to the older part of the
community. Such are the effects of liberty and just laws.
In this triumphal day, amid the shouts of joy, the reports of
the guns and ringing of the bells, considering the splendid
results, it is only natural that we carry our look backward to
the past and have a thought for the lonely pioneers of long ago,
who came one by one to this then unknown land, and who tried
among incredible difficulties to make it less unknown, to make
it more productive and easier to reclaim for you, their distant
inheritors. No one, I am sure, will think it amiss that I, a
compatriot of theirs and a representative of their country,
shall recall at this day their efforts, and express to-day's
gratitude for yesterday's work. For they were hardy men, those
children of distant France; they were plucky, enterprising, and
courageous; they led strenuous lives indeed; all qualities for
which you ever had a special regard. To say that they did not
fear danger is to slander them; they loved it.
Soldiers, missionaries, governors of cities, explorers came year
after year from the time of Louis XIV, attracted by the chances
or the beauty of the unknown and the opportunity of increasing
their country's dominions, or of becoming famous, or of
instructing souls, and of dying, if death was to be met, bravely
and honorably. Very French they were, with all the qualities of
their race, and something else, perhaps, some of them, than the
qualities.
As they went down the great rivers from the regions of the
Canadian lakes to the Mexican sea they gave them French names,
and the reading of a map of that epoch reminds one of the
century of the Sun King. There he is with all his court, figured
in lands, cities, lakes, and rivers. Louisiana bears his own
name; Lake Pontchartrain the name of his minister for marine;
Fort Duquesne, the name of his famous sailor. There were also
the rivers Colbert and Seigneley, better known nowadays as
Mississippi and Illinois. One of the Great Lakes had been named
after the Duke of Orleans; another, the great Conde, the winner
of Rocroy; another after his brother, Prince de Conti; but this
last inland sea, as indeed most of the others, soon resumed its
Indian name, the homely name of Lake Erie, the Lake of the Cat.
Very French they were, those men--this Father Marquette, who,
with Joliet, first beheld the magnificent water that washes your
walls, the vast existence of which was then unknown, and who
explored it down to the country of the Arkansas; this Robert
Cavalier Sieur de la Salle, who had, long before our days, our
days' notions of the importance of great commercial routes;
whose purpose was to open one to China across this continent at
the very spot where your northern lines of railways have opened
theirs; who called his first house on American soil La China in
order that he might never forget his initial purpose. He died in
the quest, but not before he had explored the Mississippi down
to its mouth; not before he had ascertained that its source was
to the West, and that the river therefore could be used as a
guiding thread toward the Pacific; not before he had made the
first French settlement in this, your country, and given it a
name, which has not been replaced by another, and is its present
name of Louisiana.
Long is the roll and great were the hardships. To the same
region, with the same object of discovering and improving, came
that typical cadet De Gascogne, the Chevalier Antoine de la
Mothe Cadillac, who, on the 21st of July, 1701, unfurled the
French flag at a certain spot where he began the building of a
town, now the town of Detroit. He became afterwards governor of
Louisiana. Then such men came as Du Tissnet, as the brothers Le
Moine de Iberville and Le Moine de Bienville, this last the
founder of New Orleans; as Father de Charlevoix, who gave the
best account we have of the country, and spoke most wisely about
its future; as La Clede, worthier than anyone to be remembered
at this day and this place, as he was the founder of your town.
The exploration of the coasts had been comparatively easy, and
thousands had attempted it. Settlers from France were the first
to try their chance inland; they traveled across a huge
continent more unknown then to the civilized world than was in
our time the Africa of Livingstone and Stanley. They did it in a
cheerful, optimistic spirit that nothing daunted but death.
Living as they did in truly "howling wildernesses," there
remained yet with them something of the mother country; and that
appeared not only in their speech and manners, but in their very
attitudes. Charlevoix meets figures of dead men fabricated by
Indians. He was glad to find that they were represented with
falling arms, from which he concluded that the authors of the
trophies had massacred some of their own kin. When Indians
killed French people, the figures represented men with their
fist on their hip, Versailles fashion.
How could it be otherwise when they lived, some of them, on a
settlement owned by a gentleman called d'Artagnan and managed,
as was appropriate, by two musketeers. One almost expects the
names of those two to have been Porthos and Aramis; but they
were d'Artiguidres and De Benac.
And these men recalled their country in more important things
than names and attitudes. Cadillac had scarcely given a name to
the spot where he meant to create a town than he sent for his
wife and younger son. It was to be a town, indeed, with wives
and children and family life, and it was so, and it has ever
been so since Cadillac willed it. When La Salle was killed in
his second journey to the Mississippi in 1687, he had with him
his brother and two nephews. The newcomers soon discovered that
the region was not the metallic eldorado they had heard of it in
Europe, but that it was a matchless agricultural country, and
they began cutting the trees and tilling the ground, with none
of the modern instruments and helps, no harvesting machines from
"Chicago," as the then desert spot was called in their days; no
horses, no horned cattle. They led, indeed not in fiction, but
in truth--and long before the famous "Mariner of York" was
wrecked by the Orinoco River--the life of Robinson Crusoe.
Unknown to Europe, far from any neighbors, by the shade of the
pathless forest, they tried their best. They died, many of them
obscurely, leaving no name to be engraved on the bronze tables
of history, but leaving better than a mere name--families, many
of which still subsist; better than families--examples of
earnestness and endurance, creating a tradition which will never
die out, "Rien ne se perd."
The greatness of their difficulties, the scantiness of their
means, the wisdom of many of their views are equally striking.
More than one did their utmost to teach and improve their Indian
neighbor. They forbade at an early date the selling to them of
the destructive "fire water." Cadillac did so from the first;
the Marquis de Vaudreuil reissued the same orders later. They
soon discovered that the northern regions alone could produce
wheat enough to feed the whole country, "though it should be
quite peopled down to the sea." The question of labor was one of
prominent difficulty and importance. Should it be hired labor of
freemen or the compulsory labor of the imported negro? On this,
one of those early French explorers, Charlevoix, summed up his
opinion in the following memorable sentence: "Hired servants
should be preferred. When the time of their service is expired
they become inhabitants and increase the number of the King's
natural subjects, whereas the slaves are always strangers. And
who can be assured that by continually increasing in our
colonies they will not one day become formidable enemies? Can we
depend upon slaves who are only attached to us by fear and for
whom the very land where they are born has not the dear name of
mother country?"
More striking than all was the observation of a Frenchman who
never visited America, except in thought, but saw distinctly its
future. When no one yet believed it, that great economist and
statesman, Turgot, said: "America one day will be free."
Years went on. The dark shadows and splendid rays of light with
which French history is interwoven shone and vanished in their
grand and awful alternance. One day the French flag was lowered
in Louisiana; that was at the close of the Seven Years War.
Another day the same flag was seen on the mast of a small vessel
leaving the harbor at Bordeaux and sailing for America. The ship
happened to bear the auspicious name of _La Victoire_, and it
bore Lafayette. Then it was the alliance of 1778, and the coming
on the same year of the first envoy accredited by any nation to
this country, my predecessor, Gerard de Rayneval, a staunch
friend of America; then the peace of 1783, when, with the assent
of the whole world, to the joy of every French heart, 13 stars
shone on the American flag.
France recovered, then, neither Louisiana nor Canada, nor
anything. But she never intended it. She won a friend, and such
a friend is better than any province.
She was very happy, having exactly fulfilled without change,
bargain, or extenuation the task she had mapped out for herself
in 1778, when she declared in the alliance treaty that the
"direct and essential object of the same was efficaciously to
maintain the freedom, sovereignty, and absolute and illimited
independence of the United States." The joy was such in Paris at
the news of American independence that performances in the
theaters were interrupted; the great event was announced, and
audiences rose to their feet to cheer the new-born Republic.
Festivities were given and colored prints were scattered all
over France for the benefit of those who could not be present.
Such souvenirs were proudly kept in families. One such came to
the remote house of my own parents in the mountains, and it was
carefully preserved and I possess it at this day.
France followed her destinies; in 1800 Louisiana was French
again; three years later on the spontaneous proposal of the
French Republic, not New Orleans alone, not a mere strip of
land, but the whole country became forever American.
The treaty signed one hundred years and a day ago had little
precedent in history; it dealt with territories larger than the
Empire of Alexander; it followed no war; it was preceded by no
shedding of human blood; the new possessions got a hundred times
more than they even thought of demanding, and the negotiations
were so simple, the good faith and mutual friendship so obvious,
that all was concluded in a fortnight. The simplest protocol on
postal or sanitary questions takes nowadays more time. Each
party found its interest in the transaction, but something more
than interest led the affair to a speedy conclusion and that was
the deep-rooted sympathy of the French and American nations.
The French were simply continuing what they had begun; they had
wished America to be free and they were glad to think that she
would be great. Money was paid, it is true; had this been the
main consideration, Louisiana would have been preserved, for the
money was not by far the equivalent of the buildings and lands
belonging to the State. Part of the money was employed in
satisfying American claims. "Those," says the French negotiator,
Marbois, "who knew the importance of a good understanding
between these two countries, attached more importance to the
$4,000,000 set apart for American claims than to the $12,000,000
offered to France."
An impending war in Europe, the possibilities of an occupation
of Louisiana by a foreign power was not, either, the main
motive. In the council held at the Tuileries on Easter day,
1803, the Marshal and Prince of Wagram, Berthier, whose first
war had been the war of American independence, said, as to this:
"If Louisiana is taken from us by our rivals what does it
matter? Other possessions would soon be in our hands, and by
means of an exchange, we should quickly obtain a restitution."
He concluded, "No navy without colonies, no colonies without a
navy."
Add again that the value of Louisiana was much better understood
than it had been before. "I know the worth of what I give up,"
said Bonaparte; and the French Government knew it indeed. They
acted with open eyes, for they had taken care from the year 1800
to gather all available information. One of the memoirs with
which they enlightened themselves had been asked of Louis
Vilemont, former captain in the regiment of Louisiana. It is
still unpublished; and it informed the Government that "from
various reports of Canadian and Indian hunters it is possible to
walk from Missouri to the sea in less than two months and a
half."
An access to the Pacific was not so easy as now, but yet an
access was practicable, and the wealth of the country was
extraordinary. Warming at the souvenir of what he knew, the
retired officer exclaimed, "What sources of wealth can we not
expect to find in those parts! At each step made from east to
west all produce, all things increase tenfold. It seems as if
nature had made this corner of the globe the most favored one of
our immense empire. The samples of all reigns have more beauty
and majesty than anywhere else. The men born there look more
like the descendants of Alcides than the kinsmen of the tribes
who worship Manitou."
The main motive power, without which all the others would have
been of no avail, was, indeed, mutual sympathy. When the treaty
was signed the three negotiators, Barbe-Marbois, Monroe, and
Livingston, who had known each other in America at the time of
the war of Independence, rose, and, what is rare on such
occasions, one of them was able to express in a single sentence
the intimate feelings of the three. "The treaty which we have
just signed," said Livingston, "will cause no tears; they
prepare centuries of happiness to innumerable generations of
human beings; from this day the United States take their place
among the powers of the first rank."
I do not think that there is another example in the history of
the world of a cession of such vast territories thus obtained by
the representatives of one of the parties to the applause and
with the heartfelt consent of the representatives of the other.
The treaty giving away in full possession and forever Louisiana
to the United States, allowing them to spread without meeting
any foreign neighbors from one ocean to the other, adding
fourteen States to the original thirteen, was signed one hundred
years ago, "au nom du peuple Francais" in the year XI of the
French Republic. The results have passed the most sanguine
hopes, but they have not gone beyond the extent of our friendly
wishes for the sister Republic of America. The representative of
France comes to this spot that was French in former times with a
feeling of admiration for what you have done, and no feeling of
regret. He sees splendid development, arts, sciences, trade, and
agriculture equally prosperous; he applauds your success, and
expresses from his heart his good wishes for your grand
exhibition of next year.
As for his own country, if she no longer holds those immense
domains, she has, on the other hand, found other territories for
the peaceful employment of her inexhaustible energy, with
results which will forever redound to the praise of the
Government of the Republic. And as for Louisiana itself, France
rests satisfied with remembering that she could not have more
friendly nor more sympathetic intentions. She remembers also,
not without pride, that her sons first discovered and tilled the
soil, first described it, and first drew a map of it; that one
of her most famous writers first revealed to the world the
springs of poetry that lay concealed as much under the fir trees
of the Mississippi Valley as under the plane trees of Tempe; the
diplomat and literary artist who made all those who had a mind
and heart weep for the fate of Atala.
Seeing the results, my countrymen have never ceased to approve
of the treaty signed a hundred years ago "au nom de peuple
Francais." Eighteen hundred and three is the third memorable
date in the relations between France and America. In giving the
United States, according to the words of your negotiator, its
place among the greatest powers in the world, 1803 did nothing
but perfect what had been gloriously begun in 1778 and 1783.
Sixth. Music by the Marine Band, playing the Spanish "Himno de Riego."
Seventh. Address by the Spanish minister, Senor de Ojeda:
MR. PRESIDENT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: I greatly regret my
inability to respond to the very flattering recognition of the
part played by Spain in the early history of this territory. I
wish I were endowed with the same eloquence displayed by
previous orators, which it has been our privilege to listen to
and admire. Still, had not the national glories of Spain been so
brilliantly alluded to, were I able to recall them now with
colors as glowing as the warmth their memory brings to my
Spanish heart, I feel I could not raise to them a loftier or
more eloquent monument than has been raised by those immortal
works of Washington Irving, Prescott, Lowell, and Ticknor, which
have made of Spanish tradition a familiar household patrimony of
this nation.
I am sure you will agree with me in thinking that I could do no
better, that I could not pay a higher nor more honorable nor
lasting tribute to our share in the history of this continent
than by invoking the testimony of your own literary genius and
by referring now to that grateful recognition which moved the
founders of this Republic to associate the revered memory of
Isabella, the soul-stirring deeds of Pizarro, Cortez, and Ojeda,
with the temple of your nationality.
If ever the engrossing conclusions of your wonderful actual
prosperity, the intensity of your life, made one of your
strenuous citizens forget what your present owes to your past,
let him ascend the steps of your national capitol, let him pause
before its majestic gates, and there he will behold, carved in
bronze on the threshold of your proudest monument, the effigies
and the names of those Spanish heroes who discovered, conquered,
and pointed to you the way in which path you have so
successfully followed.
As a guest, sitting now for the first time at the hearth of the
American nation, I feel bound to respond to that high tribute
made to Spain by publicly acknowledging here the enviable
kindness shown by all classes of your people since I landed on
your shores.
As the representative of the nation whose ancient and honored
flag was the first to be reflected in the majestic course of the
father of American rivers, I am happy to feel that my first
official appearance before an American audience is associated in
both your minds and mine with the commemoration of an event
which, although involving far-reaching issues in the respective
histories of three great nations, has not and never was darkened
by the rankling memories which war and international strife
always leave in their wake.
For, Mr. President, Spain, exclusively devoted to-day to the
task of developing her immense resources, is happy to be
associated with you in this peaceful celebration of a peaceful
event. Believe me, Mr. President, the Spanish people will enter
into this noble competition for the prizes of progress and
civilization with that same stubbornness with which during seven
centuries they maintained the heroic struggle which saved Europe
and the Christian world from the baneful invasion of African
hordes.
Spain will apply to the arts of peace, to the conquests of
progress, that same and indomitable spirit which enabled her to
enrich the Old World with a new one, over whose brilliant
destinies she watches and ever will watch with intense and
undying interest.
Spain hails with pleasure an opportunity like your future
exposition will afford of showing her peaceful conquests in the
domains of labor, and is especially bent on attracting toward
her the benefits to be derived from this growing tendency of her
people to an everlasting commercial, agricultural, and
industrial interchange. She, more than over anxious to cultivate
and strengthen her friendly relations with the world, could not
but welcome with sympathy the announcement of this vast
enterprise as a right step toward that blending of her material
and moral interests with those of other nations, to that better
understanding among them which she will indefatigably strive to
attain.
You can therefore rest assured, Mr. President, that my country
will contribute to the World's Fair and enhance with its varied
exhibits its universal and historical features. I am, in fact,
authorized to inform you that His Majesty's Government has
decided to ask for the requisite appropriation as soon as
Parliament assembles. Spain will appear before you, if not in
all the splendor that the requirements of her wise, economical
programme now forbid, at least in the manly garb of a nation
meaning to show you and to show the world that her gloriously
checkered career, instead of impairing our vitality, has
retempered the ever-elastic steel of our national fiber and
concentrated and directed all its latent energies toward the
modern conquests of progress, labor, and civilization to which
the city of St. Louis is now erecting a temple worthy of the
city itself and of the auspicious event we are now
commemorating.
And now, Mr. President, in wishing success to your noble
undertaking, in thanking you and this city for its cordial
hospitality, I beg to acknowledge also my gratitude for the
numerous tokens and expressions of good will toward Spain which
have been uttered during this solemn celebration and which I so
fully appreciate.
I beg to salute reverently in that new-born flag of your
exhibition and august emblem of peace and labor, a touching
appeal to fraternity among nations. In that flag are blended the
past and the present with the glorious colors of the three
nations representative of St. Louis's early and contemporary
history. Let us welcome its appealing and eloquent symbolism
like the herald of an ever-cloudless future.
Eighth. "Hallelujah Chorus" from The Messiah.
Ninth. Benediction by Rev. Samuel J. Niccolls:
Almighty God, Heavenly Father, whose all-wise Providence did
lead our fathers across the seas to this land, and Who hath
given their children a goodly heritage, let Thy blessing rest
upon their children. Let Thy blessings rest upon all the nations
represented here to-day and upon the representatives. May we
continue in the bonds of peace for all time. May the grace of
God, mercy, and peace be with us. Amen.
Tenth. Centennial salute of 100 guns.
PROGRAMME
STATE DAY, MAY 2, 1903.
The civic parade assembled at 10.30 a.m. under direction of Col. Eugene
J. Spencer, marshal of the day, and moved from the junction of Grand
avenue and Lindell boulevard through Forest Park to the exposition
grounds, where the parade was reviewed by the governors of the States.
At 1.30 p. m. the audience assembled in the Liberal Arts Building. The
assembly was called to order by Mr. William H. Thompson, chairman of the
committee on grounds and buildings, and the following programme was
carried out:
First. Invocation by Rev. William R. Harper:
Our Father which art in Heaven, whose work for man no man knows,
whose heart is full of wisdom, to Thee be our prayers directed.
Hallowed be Thy name. Thou art the pure and the very great. May
Thy peace be manifested to us in all Thy work.
Give us this day our daily bread, and for the following day.
Forgive us our sins, as well as forgive them that sin against
us. Take away all hatred and strife and whatever prejudice may
hinder us from union and concord. Let us be under one bond of
faith and peace.
Show us Thy kindness and so fill us with Thy goodness that our
souls may be filled with the manifold delights of charity and
good will. Let nations abide under Thy law, for Thine is the
kingdom, the power, and the glory. Amen.
Second. Address by Mr. William Lindsay, of the National Commission,
president of the day, as follows:
MR. PRESIDENT AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: This is the last day of
the interesting and memorable ceremonies with which the great
exposition has been inaugurated. We have had with us the chief
representative of the people. The next day we had with us the
diplomats, the representatives of foreign climes. To-day we have
with us the toilers. We have had the governors of the sovereign
States which make up this great Union. When I beheld the great
cavalcade I felt that the time had almost come when the
industries will solely be confined to working for peace and
divorced from devotion to the implements of war.
It is not merely a question of a fair profit upon money that is
uppermost before the people to-day. It is not the question of a
fair return for labor. But it is the question of equitable
distribution of the products of labor and of the surplus of
capital. This is the great question; that is what involves the
happiness of mankind, and the man who solves that question will
rise in greatness to such a point that other statesmen, or even
Presidents, will pale into insignificance.
This is labor day, and as such we should honor it.
And the governors. We had governors before ever we had a
President. Each State represents yet a great residuum of power.
In the hands of State are the life and liberty of the people. We
must remember that the governors, representing the unit of the
national power, have the first place in national precedence.
There is on the right of me the governor of the great Empire
State of the Atlantic. There is on the left of me the governor
of the great Empire State of the Louisiana Purchase. I need not
introduce to you the governor of Missouri, but it is upon the
programme, and hence I will say the words--I beg to introduce
Governor A.M. Dockery, who will now address you.
Third. Address of welcome by Hon. A.M. Dockery, governor of Missouri, as
follows:
The pleasing duty devolves upon me of extending a cordial
greeting in behalf of the people of Missouri to you as the chief
magistrates and representatives of sister States, who come with
kindly messages and substantial evidence of the nation's
interest in our stupendous undertaking. The work already
completed and yet to be done could only be accomplished by a
people known and respected as the incarnation of intelligent,
ennobling enterprise.
The occasion which will bring us together is the precursor of
the most marvelous exhibition the world has ever seen. The
wealth, the ingenuity, the forethought, and the ability of all
nations will contribute to this magnificent result. The
masterful statesmanship of Thomas Jefferson builded better than
even he could know when he purchased from the Emperor Napoleon
this vast domain--the connecting link between the fair country
skirting the Atlantic coast, which had only been recently
emancipated from despotic rule, and the rich possession on our
west, extending to the Pacific Ocean.
The Mississippi River marks the eastern limit of this priceless
acquisition. Sweeping away to the west, the south, and the
north, its area of 14 States and Territories embraces great
cities, beautiful towns and villages, farms and gardens, mighty
waterways, vast railway systems, and a wealth of gold, silver,
and other resources which a wise Providence provided for His
people. Can the mind of man conceive a more resplendent
territory? And when it is remembered that the Louisiana Purchase
States are only a part of the still more glorious whole, is it
any wonder that the American people are proud of their country
and true to their Government?
Nature, with regal prodigality, has lavished gifts on this fair
land, and its people are especially endowed with those
qualifications which can not fail to produce the greatest
excellence in everything.
But to return to the coming exposition. Everywhere during this
pageant of entertainment have we seen evidences of the progress
of this enterprise so mighty in its conception as to be
astounding. Sites have been assigned to each State and foreign
country, and the result already accomplished is spread out
before you in brilliant panorama. There is no longer any
question about anything but the magnitude of the success of the
undertaking. This has been made possible only by the intelligent
cooperation of all the people, and to you, as representatives of
sister States, I extend most grateful acknowledgment.
The selection of our own metropolitan city as the proper place
in which to hold this exposition seems peculiarly fitting. Its
very name breathes the spirit of its French ancestry to whom we
are so greatly indebted, and its geographical situation is
preeminently satisfactory.
To guard our shores, to make impregnable our southern border
against foreign assault, and to enlarge the scope of our
commerce and liberty was the controlling thought of Thomas
Jefferson and his compatriots when the "Purchase Territory" was
added to the American Union. Fifteen millions of dollars
represented the purchase price, and by a happy coincidence which
may not have been altogether accidental, $15,000,000 represented
the basic sum by which this exposition first became
possible--$5,000,000 contributed by the city of St. Louis,
$5,000,000 raised by popular subscription, and $5,000,000 given
by the National Government. Missouri has since appropriated
$1,000,000, that her resources may be fittingly exploited, while
your States have in turn liberally set apart amounts which will
lend the magnificence of their products to the scene.
To-day closes the celebration incident to the dedicatory
exercises of the exposition, and in the hour of greeting we are
reminded that soon we must part for a time. The panoply of war
in the execution of our regular and citizen soldiery has joined
with the pomp and pageantry of civil life. Their commingling is
further proof of the pride of the people in all the institutions
of our country. Civilian and soldier have given the weight of
their influence to make more impressive the scenes attendant on
this display, and will be equally enthusiastic when the gates of
the great exhibition are formally opened. Months will pass
before that event, but in the meantime an army of the employed
will perfect the scheme which, in its full fruition, will herald
abroad the triumph of this wonderful exposition.
In conclusion, permit me to say, the welcome of every true
Missourian is yours, and in parting a cordial adieu is wafted
with the hope expressed for a safe return to your homes and to
your people.
Fourth. Music by the Marine Band.
Fifth. Response by Hon. Benj. B. Odell, jr., governor of New York, as
follows:
The past, with all of its achievements, with all its successes,
is to us but an incentive and guide for the future progress of
our country. America still beckons to the oppressed of all lands
and holds out the gifts of freedom, and we at this time and upon
this occasion should renew our adherence to those policies which
have made us a great nation. The future is before us, and the
patriotism and self-sacrifice of those who made the country's
history so glorious should be an Inspiration to us for all
higher ideals of citizenship. Through the golden gates of
commerce pours an unceasing stream of immigration which must be
amalgamated with American ideas and American principles.
The battles of the past have been for freedom and liberty, and
the struggle of the future will be for their preservation, not,
however, by force of arms, but through the peaceful methods
which come through the education of our people. The declaration
which brought our Republic into existence has insured and
guaranteed that liberty of conscience and that freedom of action
which does not interfere, with the prerogatives or privileges of
a man's neighbors.
Capital and labor are the two great elements upon which the
prosperity and happiness of our people rest, and when,
therefore, aggregations of the one are met by combinations of
the other, it should be the aim of all to prevent the clashing
of these great interests. The products of toil are worthless
unless there be some means by which they can be substituted or
transferred for that which labor requires. The concrete form in
which these transactions are conducted is the money power or the
capital of the land.
Without work all of these fertile fields, these teeming towns,
would have been impossible; and without a desire to benefit and
elevate humanity, its onward progress would have been useless.
To work, to labor, is man's bounden duty, and in the performance
of the tasks which have been placed upon him he should be
encouraged, and his greatest incentive should be the knowledge
that he may transmit to his children and his children's children
a higher civilization and greater advantages than he himself
possessed.
Trade conditions which would permit to the toiler but a bare
sustenance, the bare means of a livelihood, would be a hindrance
to human progress, a hindrance not to be removed by all of the
maxims of the philosopher or the theories of the doctrinaire.
Promise without fulfillment is barren, but when you can place
before the mechanic the assured fact that the performance of his
duty means success in life, and that his nonperformance means
failure; when you can show him that this law is immutable, you
have made of him a useful citizen and have instilled into his
mind a firm belief that the freedom and liberty of which we
boast is not an inchoate substance to be dreamed of and not
enjoyed.
But this desired result can not be secured if combinations of
capital, which produce the necessaries of life cheaper and
better, are assailed as the enemies of mankind. There is always
a mean between those who seek only a fair recompense and return
for that which they produce and those who seek undue advantages
for the few at the expense of the many. The laws which have been
enacted, if properly executed, are sufficient in their force and
effort to encourage the one and to punish the other, but in our
condemnation let us not forget that with the expansion that has
come to our country an expansion of our business relations is
also necessary.
This growth has brought us into intimate contact with the
markets of the world, and in the struggle that is always before
us the competition of trade, if we are to hold our own among the
world's producers, we should encourage, not hinder, those who,
by their energy, their capital, and their labor, have banded
together for the purpose of meeting these new
conditions--problems which our individual efforts alone can not
solve, but which require the concentrated force and genius of
both capital and labor.
Incentive for good citizenship would indeed be lacking if these
were taken from us--the opportunities for development, the
opportunities for the young man to follow in the footsteps of
those who have written their names in the history of our country
as the great captains of industry.
Success will always follow perseverance and genius. Every
heresy, every doctrine which would teach the young man of this
country differently, is an insult to the intelligence of our
people, and is in the direction of building up a dangerous
element in American society which in time would threaten not
only the peace and prosperity we enjoy, but our very
institutions themselves.
When you have placed before the young man all of his
possibilities, you have made it impossible to make of our
Republic a plutocracy controlled by the few at the expense of
the many. The individual should count for as much as the
aggregation of individuals, because an injury to the one will
lead to the destruction of the many.
The question of adjusting and harmonizing the relations of
capital and labor is the problem before us to-day, and is one
which will become more urgent in the future. Its solution must
be along those lines of constitutional right which every citizen
has been guaranteed.
Every man is entitled, in the prosecution of his work, to the
broadest possible liberty of action and the protection of
law--of that law which is the outgrowth of necessity and which
seeks to encourage and not to oppress. Such recognition can
always be secured if there is a determination upon the part of
those charged with the responsibility of government to have it.
And who is not?
Every man possessed of a ballot is responsible and has the power
not only to formulate, but to criticise and punish as well. If
the right be properly exercised, an honest and efficient
administration of our affairs can always be secured.
The greatest solvent for political heresies, for doctrines which
are antagonistic to popular government, is education. To the
educated mind there comes a conception of duty which is not
possible to the ignorant.
Sixth. Grand chorus.
Seventh. Benediction by Rabbi Leon Harrison:
Unto Thee, Almighty God, the God of Moses, the God of Jesus, the
God of Mohammed, and the God of every living creature, God of
the church, of the mosque, and of the synagogue, unto Thee we
bring homage and praise.
We worship Thee in this temple of labor, reared by faithful
hands, and implore Thy benediction on the work, for, unless the
Lord blesses the house, the labor is in vain. May it be
dedicated to the enlightenment of humanity that brotherhood may
be increased and patriotism deepened.
Bless this august assembly. Bless this great cause, its tireless
leaders, and faithful workers, and above all bless our beloved
country, the haven of the oppressed and the home of liberty.
Bless its rulers and its people.
May it go on as from the beginning, from strength to strength,
that the nation and the Government may increase in power and in
the end be a union of all mankind, all races, all nations,
proclaiming one God, one law of righteousness, one humanity, and
saying Thy God shall reign from generation to generation. Amen.
Eighth. Centennial salute of 100 guns.
A grand display of daylight fireworks took place at the conclusion of
the exercises in the building.
Immediately after the close of the ceremonies in the Liberal Arts
Building, the governors present proceeded to the building sites selected
for their respective States, where corner stones were laid and State
colors were raised with appropriate ceremonies.
The lady managers of the exposition were conducted by military escort in
advance of the parade each day to the reviewing stand. They were
accompanied by the wives of the members of the Diplomatic Corps, members
of the Supreme Court of the United States, members of the Cabinet,
members of the Joint Committee of Congress, the Admiral of the Navy, the
Lieutenant-General of the Army, the grand marshal, the governors of the
States, the officiating clergymen, and members of the National
Commission.
Receptions were held each day by the board of lady managers during the
progress of the dedication ceremonies.
The magnificence of the spectacle will live long in the memories of the
hundreds of thousands of people who witnessed the ceremonies.
All the nations were present by their diplomatic and accredited
representatives.
The presence of Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States, and
of Grover Cleveland, his only living predecessor in office, intensified
the interest of the vast concourse of people at the dedication
ceremonies. Their addresses were listened to by 80,000 persons assembled
in the Liberal Arts Building.
The committees appointed by the respective Houses of Congress to attend
the dedication ceremonies consisted of the following Senators and
Representatives:
_Committee of the Senate_.--Messrs. Burnham, New Hampshire;
Depew, New York; Penrose, Pennsylvania; Dolliver, Iowa;
Hansbrough, North Dakota; Mitchell, Oregon; Teller, Colorado;
Berry, Arkansas; Martin, Virginia; Foster, Louisiana.
_Committee of the House of Representatives_.--Messrs. Jas. A.
Tawney, Jas. S. Sherman, Thad. M. Mahon, Richard Bartholdt, H.
C. Van Voorhis, Richard W. Parker, Jesse Overstreet, Jas. R.
Mann, Walter I. Smith, Jas. M. Miller, E.J. Burkett, S.M.
Robertson, C.L. Bartlett, John F. Shafroth, Jas. Hay.
Special rules and regulations providing for an international jury and
governing the system of awards, which had been in course of preparation
by the Commission and the Exposition Company for some time, were finally
drafted and sent to the Commission for approval on May 2, 1902. As
approved by the Commission and subsequently promulgated the rules read
as follows:
UNIVERSAL EXPOSITION, ST. LOUIS, 1904, COMMEMORATING THE
ACQUISITION OF LOUISIANA TERRITORY.
1. The total number of jurors in the international jury of
awards shall be approximately 2 per cent of the total number of
exhibitors, but not in excess of that number, and each nation
having 50 exhibitors or more shall be entitled to representation
on the jury. The number of jurors from each art or industry and
for each nationality represented shall, as far as practicable,
be proportional to the number of exhibitors and the importance
of the exhibits.
Of this selected body of international jurors three graded
juries will be constituted: One, the general organization of
group juries; two, department juries; three, a superior jury.
2. Each group jury shall be composed of jurors and alternates.
The number of alternates shall in no case exceed one-fourth of
the number of jurors, and they shall have a deliberative voice
and vote only when occupying the places of absent jurors.
3. The United States jurors and alternates of the group juries
shall be nominated by the chiefs of departments to which the
respective groups belong. The jurors and alternates of the group
juries representing foreign countries and the United States
insular possessions shall be nominated by the commissioners of
such countries.
The Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company shall certify to the
board of lady managers the number of groups in which the
exhibits have been produced in whole or in part by female labor;
to each of the groups so certified the board of lady managers
may appoint one juror and one alternate to that juror; such
appointees, when confirmed, shall have the privileges and be
amenable to the regulations provided for other jurors and
alternates.
All the above nominations shall be made not later than August 1,
1904, except that nominations made to fill vacancies may be made
at any subsequent time.
Jury nominations made by commissioners of foreign countries
shall be forwarded to the president of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company.
Nominations made by chiefs of departments and by the board of
lady managers shall be submitted to the director of exhibits,
and when approved he shall transmit them to the president of the
Exposition Company.
The nomination of group jurors and alternates, when approved by
the president of the exposition, shall be transmitted to the
president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission for
the approval of that body.
These nominations having been considered and confirmed by the
authorities, as provided by section 6 of the act of Congress
relating to the approval of the awarding of premiums, the
appointments to the international jury shall be made in
accordance with section 6 of Article XXII of the official rules
and regulations of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company.
4. Each group jury shall choose its own officers, consisting of
a chairman, a vice-chairman, and a secretary.
Of the two first-named officers one shall be a citizen of the
United States and the other shall be from a foreign country
represented in the division of exhibits.
5. The chief of each department shall have general charge of the
organization and direction of the group of juries in his
department for the purpose of securing the proper examinations
of all exhibits and to see that the work laid out for the juries
is conducted strictly in accordance with the official rules and
regulations.
He shall be admitted to all sessions of these juries for the
purpose of directing their attention to matters relating to the
judging of exhibits.
6. The work of the group juries shall begin September 1, 1904,
and shall be completed not later than twenty days thereafter.
Examinations or other work not completed in the time specified
herein will be transferred to the department jury.
7. Group juries may, on the recommendation of the chiefs of
their respective departments, and with the approval of the
director of exhibits, have authority to appoint, as associates
or experts, one or more persons especially skilled in matters
submitted for examination. These experts shall participate only
in such special work as they are selected to perform and shall
have no vote on the question of the merit of the exhibit under
consideration.
8. Each group jury shall carefully examine all exhibits
pertaining to the group to which it has been assigned. It shall
also consider and pass upon the merits of the collaborators
whose work may be conspicuous in the design, development, or
construction of the exhibits.
The jury shall prepare separate lists presenting the names of
such exhibitors as are out of competition, awards recommended to
exhibitors in order of merit, awards recommended to
collaborators in order of merit, a report giving an account of
the most important objects exhibited, and a general account of
the group as a whole.
These papers shall be certified to the chief of the department
to which the group belongs, and the chief of the department
shall certify the same, with such recommendations as he may deem
advisable, to the department jury.
9. In order to expedite their work group juries may be divided
into committees for the examination of exhibits.
These committees shall be governed by paragraphs 1, 2, and 3 of
rule 8, just cited; when they have completed the work assigned
them they shall report to the full jury, which shall review the
findings after an inspection of all the exhibits in the group.
10. When the exigencies of the work require such procedure, and
when recommended by a chief of a department and approved by the
director of exhibits, two or more group juries may be combined.
11. In the case of temporary exhibits and such other exhibits as
are developed through a considerable period of time, or which
for other reasons can not be governed by the time limits
prescribed, the juries of such groups may continue in service
throughout the entire period of the exposition. Special juries
may be formed when urgently needed for special occasions.
At the close of each temporary exhibit or competition the jury
having the same in charge shall prepare a list of awards
proposed in order of merit and shall certify the same to the
chief of the department to which the exhibit pertains.
Special awards for such temporary exhibits or competitions may
be provided by the chief of the department to which the exhibits
belong, on the approval of the director of exhibits and the
president of the Exposition Company.
12. Each department jury shall be composed of the chairman and
vice-chairman of the group juries of the respective departments,
with one member of the directory of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company, to be named by the president of the company,
and one person appointed by the board of lady managers.
The department juries shall choose their own officers,
consisting of a chairman, three vice-chairmen, and a secretary.
The chairman and first vice-chairman shall be, one a citizen of
the United States, and the other a citizen of a foreign country.
The secretary may be selected by the members of the jury from a
list of persons recommended by the director of exhibits.
13. Each department jury shall complete its organization and
begin its work on September 20, 1904.
The duties of these juries shall be to consider carefully and
review the reports of the group juries; to harmonize any
differences that may exist between the recommendations of the
several group juries as to awards, and to adjust all awards
recommended so that they will be consistent with the rules and
regulations.
No more than ten days may be devoted to this work, and when the
awards recommended by the group juries have been adjusted, the
department juries shall, through the chiefs of their respective
departments, submit their findings to the director of exhibits,
who shall, within five days after the receipt thereof, certify
the same to the superior jury, including such work as may have
been left incomplete by the department jury.
14. The officers and members of the superior jury shall be as
follows: President, the president of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company; first vice-president, the director of
exhibits; second vice-president, a citizen of the United States
to be named by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission. The
members of the jury shall further consist of the
commissioners-general of the nine foreign countries occupying
with exhibits the largest amounts of space in the exhibit
palaces; the chairman and first vice-chairman of the department
juries; the chiefs of the exhibit departments, and one person
appointed by the board of lady managers.
Two additional vice-presidents and such other officers as may be
required shall be elected by the superior jury from the members
herein provided for.
No chief of a department shall represent more than a single
department. The president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company shall appoint from the United States membership of the
department juries such other members as may be necessary to give
to each exhibit department of the exposition a representative on
the superior jury.
There shall also be a secretary of the superior jury, who may be
selected by the members of the jury from a list of persons
recommended by the president of the jury.
15. The superior jury shall determine finally and fully the
awards to be made to exhibitors and collaborators in all cases
that are formally presented for its consideration.
Formal notification of the awards shall, in each case, be sent
by the president of the jury to the exhibitors at the place of
their respective exhibits.
If, for any reason, an award is not satisfactory to an
exhibitor, he may file written notice to that effect with the
president of the jury within three days after the date of the
official notification of the award; and this notice shall be
followed, within seven days after said date, by a written
statement setting forth at length his views as to wherein the
award is inconsistent or unjust.
In the adjustment of differences and in considering the
recommendations of the department juries, the superior jury may
provide for hearings of members of the department jury and of
exhibitors, but in no case shall it be required to consider
matters which have not been regularly presented as heretofore
provided.
16. The work of the superior jury shall be completed on October
15, 1904, and, as soon as practicable thereafter, formal public
announcement of the awards shall be made. A final complete list
of awards shall be published by the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company, in accordance with the provisions of section
6 of the act of Congress, and section 6, Article XXII, of the
rules and regulations.
17. A committee, consisting of the president and the four
vice-presidents of the superior jury, shall continue the work of
the superior jury as long as may be found necessary after that
jury has disbanded.
This committee shall have charge of the preparation, collection,
and publication of the official list of awards and shall make
the necessary provisions for the proper distribution of the
awards.
18. The deliberations of all juries shall be strictly secret.
The president of the Exposition Company, the director of
exhibits, and the chiefs of departments shall have the privilege
of attending any sessions of the several juries.
A majority of any jury shall, in all cases, render and confirm a
decision.
19. The exhibits of persons serving as jurors or alternates over
groups embracing their exhibits shall be classed as
noncompetitive and shall not be examined by the juries. This
rule applies to managers, agents, or others representing a
company or corporation which is entered as an exhibitor. It does
not, however, apply to the officers or representatives of
governments which are entered as exhibitors.
20. Each regular exhibitor may receive an award, although his
exhibit be joined with that of others in a single installation.
Only one award shall be given to a collective exhibit, but the
names of all the contributors to such collective exhibit may be
entered on the diplomas awarded, and each participant shall
receive a copy.
If so desired by a group of exhibitors, a single award may be
made to an individual representing such group.
21. An exhibit shall receive only one award in any group.
The same object, shown in several groups and adjudged by more
than one jury, shall be entitled only to the highest award
accorded to it.
An exhibitor who has different objects entered as exhibits in
different groups may be given an award in each group.
22. Exhibitors who desire to have their exhibits excluded from
competition shall notify the chief of department as to their
wishes when making application for space, giving their reasons
at length for their request and objections to a competitive
exhibit; and these papers shall be transmitted through the
directory of exhibits to the president of the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition Company with such recommendations as may be deemed
necessary. Exhibits thus exempted from competition shall not be
examined by the juries, and shall not be entitled to official
recognition in connection with the system of awards.
23. In addition to the awards prescribed for exhibitors, an
award may also be made to the inventor, designer, or artisan,
who, as collaborator, has, in the judgment of the jury, shown
more than ordinary skill in connection with an exhibit. A
collaborator is a person who has distinguished himself as the
designer or producer of remarkable objects shown at the
exposition. He is not a person who has merely aided in the
arrangement or installation of exhibits.
In order that this may be equitably accomplished, each exhibitor
who has received an award may furnish the chief of his
respective department, for transmission to the proper jury, a
list of the names of his collaborators, arranged in order of
merit, based on skill, ability, magnitude and value of work, and
length of service. It will then remain for the jury of awards to
determine whether the assistance rendered by the persons named
in the manner described has been sufficient to entitle them, or
any of them, to the rank of collaborator, and to name the award
which may be conferred therefor.
24. Whenever it is applicable, a decimal scale system shall be
used in judging the merits of exhibits, 100 representing
perfection; and as a suggestion to juries, for instance, in
commercial exhibits, the following is offered:
(a) Value of the product, process, machine or device, as
measured by its usefulness, its beneficent influence on mankind
in its physical, mental, moral, and educational aspects.
Counting not to exceed 25.
(b) Skill and ingenuity displayed in the invention,
construction, and application. Counting not to exceed 25.
(c) Merits of the installation as to the ingenuity and taste
displayed, the cost and value as an exposition attraction.
Counting not to exceed 10.
(d) Magnitude of the business represented, as measured by the
gross sales during the calendar year preceding the opening of
the exposition. Counting not to exceed 10.
(e) Quality or cheapness, with reference to the possession by
the exhibit of the highest possible quality, or the fact that
the article is sold at so low a price with reference to its
quality as to make it a valuable acquisition to the purchaser.
Counting not to exceed 10.
(f) For completion of installation within required time and for
excellence of maintenance. Counting not to exceed 10.
(g) Length of time exhibitor has been in business as showing
whether exhibit is a development of original invention or is an
improvement on the work of some prior inventor. Counting not to
exceed 5.
(h) Number and character of awards received from former
expositions. Counting not to exceed 5.
25. A special award, consisting of a gold medal in each
department, may be recommended by the department jury for the
best, most complete, and most attractive installation.
26. The following scale of markings shall be used in determining
the final merits of an exhibit and fixing the award that should
be made, 100 being used as indicating perfection:
Exhibits receiving markings ranging from 60 to 74 inclusive,
bronze medal.
Exhibits receiving markings ranging from 75 to 84 inclusive,
silver medal.
Exhibits receiving markings ranging from 85 to 94 inclusive,
gold medal.
Exhibits receiving markings ranging from 95 to 100 inclusive,
grand prize.
27. The diplomas or certificates of award for exhibitors shall
be signed by the president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company, the president of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Commission, the secretary of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition
Company, the director of exhibits, and the chief of the
department to which the exhibit pertains.
28. Special commemorative medals and diplomas may be issued to
the officers of the exposition, to the United States, State, and
foreign commissioners, to the members of the international jury
of awards, and to such other persons as may be deemed worthy of
special recognition.
29. The compensation of foreign jurors shall be fixed and paid
by the countries which they respectively represent.
30. United States jurors, except such as are officers and
employees of the exposition, shall receive actual cost of
necessary transportation, and compensation at the rate of $7 per
day for such time as they are actually engaged in the work
assigned them at the exposition.
DAVID R. FRANCIS,
_President._
FREDERICK J.V. SKIFF.
_Director of Exhibits._
APPROVED.
THOMAS H. CARTER,
_President Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission._
ATTEST:
WALTER B. STEVENS.
_Secretary Louisiana Purchase Exposition._
The Commission early experienced great inconvenience in preparing and
submitting its monthly reports, as required by law, to the President of
the United States, of the financial condition of the exposition, owing
to delay in receiving monthly statements from the company and the
incomplete nature of such statements when received.
From an examination of the reports furnished by the Exposition Company,
it will be observed that they were at all times deficient in that they
did not show the outstanding liabilities of the company. The Commission
assiduously endeavored to secure such amendment to the books of account
kept by the company as would secure the incorporation of a statement of
such outstanding liabilities.
The following correspondence between the Commission and the Exposition
Company shows the repeated efforts of the Commission to obtain the
information essential to the preparation of the monthly reports referred
to:
OCTOBER 3, 1902.
DEAR SIR: I am directed by the Commission to refresh your memory
as to our conversation yesterday with regard to furnishing a
statement of all outstanding liabilities of the Exposition
Company.
Section 11 of the act of Congress, approved March 3, 1901,
requires the Commission to furnish the President of the United
States a summary of the financial condition of the Exposition
Company, and this can not be done in a satisfactory manner
without a statement of outstanding liabilities under contract,
expressed or implied.
It is the desire of the Commission to furnish the President with
detailed information of the character indicated, in connection
with the report for the current month, to the end that he may
have complete data available for consideration in connection
with his message to Congress.
It will greatly oblige the Commission to have the statement
referred to furnished in duplicate.
Yours, very truly,
THOMAS H. CARTER,
_President._
Hon. D.R. FRANCIS,
_President Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, City._
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