Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission - Part 2
Library

Part 2

D.R. FRANCIS.

Attest: W.B. STEVENS, _Secretary_.

The question of appointing a board of lady managers, authorized by section 6 of the act of Congress, was considered by the National Commission and the Exposition Company at a meeting held on October 16, 1901.

After giving the matter due and careful consideration, the Commission and the company decided to create a board of lady managers of 21 members. The membership of the board was subsequently increased to 24.

The names of the board of lady managers are as follows:

Miss Helen Miller Gould.

Mrs. John A. McCall.

Mrs. John M. Holcombe.

Miss Anna L. Dawes.

Mrs. W.E. Andrews.

Mrs. Helen-Boice Hunsicker.

Mrs. James L. Blair.

Mrs. Fannie L. Porter.

Mrs. Frederick M. Hanger.

Mrs. Jennie Gilmore Knott.

Mrs. Emily Warren Roebling.

Mrs. M.H. De Young.

Mrs. Belle L. Everest.

Mrs. Margaret P. Daly.

Mrs. W.H. Coleman.

Mrs. C.B. Buchwalter.

Mrs. Louis D. Frost.

Mrs. Finis P. Ernst.

Mrs. Mary Phelps Montgomery.

Mrs. John Miller Horton.

Mrs. Annie McLean Moores.

Mrs. A.L. Von Mayhoff.

Mrs. Daniel Manning.

Mrs. James Edmund Sullivan.

Miss Lavinia H. Egan.

Rules and regulations for the cla.s.sification of exhibits at the exposition, which had been presented for the consideration of the Commission by the Exposition Company, and which had been discussed at length, were finally approved on October 17, 1901, and the Exposition Company was notified of that fact.

The matter of formulating rules and regulations for the government of the exposition was one of the first questions to be considered by the Commission. The matter was taken up at the various meetings of the Commission, and conferences were held with the officers of the Exposition Company from time to time. The Commission contended that in the event of a disagreement between the representative of any foreign government and the Exposition Company the representative of such foreign government should be allowed to refer the matter to the National Commission for joint consideration and adjustment with the company. With that end in view the Commission insisted that the following provision should be incorporated in the rules and regulations governing the exposition:

Should disagreement arise between the Exposition Company and the representative of any Government, State, Territory, or District, such representative shall have the privilege, under such rules of procedure as the National Commission may from time to time promulgate, of referring the matter in disagreement between such representative and the company to the National Commission for joint consideration and adjustment with the company.

The company objected to the insertion of this clause.

Thereupon the Commission and the company agreed to submit the matter in dispute to arbitration, in accordance with law. The Commission notified the company that the members of the arbitration board appointed by the Commission were prepared to meet the arbitrators of the company when such last-named arbitrators should be appointed. But owing to the fact that the arbitrators on behalf of the company had not yet been appointed, it was impossible at the time to submit the matter in controversy to arbitration.

In November, 1901, it became evident that the success of the exposition demanded the immediate promulgation of the rules and regulations for the guidance of intending compet.i.tors. The Exposition Company communicated with the National Commission to that effect and requested that it be allowed to promulgate the rules and regulations so far as agreed upon, and that the matter in dispute should be left to subsequent arbitration.

On November 22, 1901, the Commission consented to the promulgation of the rules and regulations, so far as modified, with the understanding that the provision in dispute, hereinbefore stated, should thereafter be incorporated and given due publicity, provided it was adopted by the board of arbitration. On December 1, 1901, the rules and regulations were published, and a copy thereof, as approved by the National Commission, is as follows:

An act to provide for celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States, by holding an international exhibition of arts, industries, manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine, forest, and sea, in the city of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, approved March 3, 1901, a copy of which said act is hereto attached.

As provided by law, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition will be held in the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, U.S.A., and will be opened on the 30th day of April, A.D. 1903, and will be closed on the 1st day of December of that year. The exposition will be closed on Sundays.

This exposition will embrace an exhibition of arts, industries, manufactures, and the products of the soil, mine, forest, and sea. It will be held to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the purchase of the Louisiana Territory by the United States from France.

The exposition will be international in character, as contemplated by section 9 of the act of Congress, which reads as follows:

"That whenever the President of the United States shall be notified by the National Commission that provision has been made for grounds and buildings, for the uses herein provided for, he shall be authorized to make proclamation of the same, through the Department of State, setting forth the time at which said exposition will be held, and the purposes thereof, and he shall communicate to the diplomatic representatives of foreign nations copies thereof, together with such regulations as may be adopted by the Commission, for publication in their respective countries, and he shall, in behalf of the Government and the people, invite foreign nations to take part in the said exposition and to appoint representatives thereto."

Rules and Regulations.

The following general rules and regulations are promulgated by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, having been approved by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission:

ARTICLE I.

SECTION I. Under a proclamation of the President of the United States, signed August 20, 1901, all nations and peoples are invited to and may partic.i.p.ate in this exposition.

SEC. II. The site of the exposition will be the west portion of Forest Park and adjacent territory, and will comprise, approximately, 1,000 acres.

SEC. III. The executive of the exposition is the president of the board of directors of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company. There are four princ.i.p.al executive divisions presided over by the following officers: Director of exhibits, director of exploitation, director of works, director of concessions and admissions.

Under the officers subordinate departments for the supervision of exhibits, of construction, and of maintenance may be created, each department having its individual chief.

SEC. IV. The bureau of transportation shall have entire charge of all matters relating to the transportation of pa.s.sengers and freight to and from the exposition grounds from all parts of the world. It will quote rates and cla.s.sifications, remedy delays, and be const.i.tuted in such a manner as to extend practical a.s.sistance and information to all exhibitors and the public at large. This bureau has for its chief officer a traffic manager, who will report direct to the president.

ARTICLE II.

SECTION I. For the development of the exposition to the full extent of the general plan as outlined, provision will be made for the installation and care of exhibits, and for the construction of exhibition palaces, ample and adequate to the theoretical and physical scope of the exposition.

SEC. II. For the purposes of installation and review of exhibits a cla.s.sification has been adopted. The cla.s.sification heretofore adopted has been divided into a number of departments, each of which is again divided into groups and subdivided into cla.s.ses.

Under this scope and plan the exposition will be constructed, the installation perfected, and the system of awards conducted.

In conformity therewith the following exhibit departments are created: Department A--Education; Department B--Art; Department C--Liberal Arts; Department D--Manufactures; Department E--Machinery; Department F--Electricity; Department G--Transportation; Department H--Agriculture; Department J--Horticulture; Department K--Forestry; Department L--Mines and Metallurgy; Department M--Fish and Game; Department N--Anthropology; Department O--Social Economy; Department P--Physical Culture.

Exhibits shall be cla.s.sified into 15 departments, in 144 groups, and in 807 cla.s.ses.

ARTICLE III.

SECTION I. The directors of the four executive divisions, and the chief of the different departments thereunder, may promulgate special rules and regulations governing the more minute and technical details of the operation of the respective departments.

SEC. II. The director of exhibits shall have general charge of the installation of all exhibits and the control and management of the same.

ARTICLE IV.

SECTION I. The general cla.s.sification is hereby made a part of these rules and regulations.

SEC. II. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company reserves the right, subject to the approval of the Commission, to amend or correct the cla.s.sification at any time before the opening of the exposition by giving thirty days' public notice.

ARTICLE V.

SECTION I. The price of admission will be 50 cents.