Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission Part 23

Respectfully submitted.

THOS. H. CARTER.

The honorable LOUISIANA PURCHASE EXPOSITION COMMISSION, _Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C._

Mr. Carter also addressed a letter to the President of the United States, tendering his resignation as a member of the Commission, which reads as follows:

WAs.h.i.+NGTON, D.C., _March 9, 1905_.

SIR: My election to the Senate of the United States from the State of Montana imposes upon me duties which render it quite impracticable for me to devote the time and attention necessary to a proper discharge of my duties as a member of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission. I therefore respectfully tender you my resignation as a member of the Commission, and in doing so I thank you sincerely for the cordial and unfailing support and consideration you have always extended to me as a member of that body.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, THOS. H. CARTER.

The PRESIDENT, _Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C._

Mr. John M. Thurston was thereupon unanimously elected to succeed Mr.

Carter as president of the Commission.

At this meeting Mr. John D. Waite, of Lewistown, Mont., recently appointed by President Roosevelt as a member of the Commission to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Carter, appeared and took his place on the Commission.

At the same meeting the secretary of the Exposition Company requested the privilege of making a personal explanation with reference to the disposition of the salvage.

From his statement it appears that he was not connected personally with the transaction, which was conducted by a committee, of which the president of the Exposition Company was chairman. The secretary did not leave any written statement or explanation, but in general terms said the exposition officials were entirely satisfied with the amount of money received for the salvage; that it was more than they expected, and that they thought the result of the sale was a subject for congratulation.

Upon the suggestion of the Commission the secretary of the Exposition Company on March 23 addressed a communication to the Commission on this subject, of which the following is a copy:

MARCH 23, 1905.

DEAR SIR: By way of supplement to the letter forwarded to the National Commission March 7, and in accordance with suggestion made verbally by the Commission at the meeting Monday, March 20, I submit this statement relevant to the tenth allegation on page 3 of the letter from President Carter, dated February 28, 1905.

Tenth. That the specifications were misleading, in that one item of copper wire, valued at $650,000, was omitted; also 5,000 (500,000) electric lights, 5,000 tons of iron piping, 3,500 tons of other piping, the railway system on the exposition grounds, the fire apparatus, etc., were omitted.

Answer. The Exposition Company purchased under contract with the American Steel and Wire Company, dated April 3, 1902, copper wire to the amount of $320,160.33. The estimated salvage under this contract as furnished by the electrical engineer of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company on or about November 14, 1904, was $121,753.68. Of this estimated salvage the sum of $46,700 was based on the presumption that the Exposition Company could sell in the open market the copper wire in its storehouse that had never been used. The contract with the American Steel and Wire Company, as read to the National Commission, provided that wire in good condition should be taken back by the American Steel and Wire Company at 55 per cent of its original cost.

Owing to changes in the head of the electrical department, Mr.

Rustin being compelled to give up his position on account of sickness, and owing to changes made in the plans for electric lighting, the Exposition Company at the opening was in possession of this quant.i.ty of unused wire, estimated in the salvage to be worth $46,700, if sold at the market value, but worth to the Exposition Company $23,860 if it was returned to the American Steel and Wire Company under its contract at 55 per cent of the original cost. The Exposition Company claimed that this unused and unpacked wire should not be returned under the contract and endeavored to sell it. The company was prevented from making sale by an injunction taken out by the Chicago House Wrecking Company. The Wrecking Company had purchased the Steel and Wire Company's rights of salvage under the contract of April 3, 1903. This injunction was pending in court at the time the sale of salvage was negotiated in November. If the contention of the Chicago House Wrecking Company was sustained it would have reduced the estimated salvage on the copper wire to $97,893.68.

The purchase of the general salvage by the Chicago House Wrecking Company ended the injunction proceedings. Copies of the contract with the American Steel and Wire Company and of the contract between the American Steel and Wire Company and the Chicago House Wrecking Company, which are of record in the office of the recorder of St. Louis City and in the office of the county clerk of St. Louis County, will be forwarded to the National Commission if desired. The reason that the copper wire could not be included in the original specifications was the pending injunction proceedings.

The Exposition Company purchased electric light bulbs referred to in the tenth allegation, of different sizes and under different contracts, to the amount of $65,688. The estimated value of lamps not used at the time of the close of the fair was $16,890.

As regards the fire-fighting apparatus it may be explained that most of this material was procured by the exposition on a rental or loan basis. The Exposition Company owned one second-hand La France fire engine, one second-hand Silsby fire engine, one fuel wagon, and four combination chemical hose wagons. The total cost of this apparatus to the Exposition Company was $5,325.

As regards the piping it can be stated that the Exposition Company had no unused piping; the company did not buy pipe and carry it in stock, but paid under contract for the pipe of various sizes after it was laid in the ground at so much per foot. This was the general practice by the company as regards the piping. By reference to the letter of March 7, it will be observed that the answer to the tenth allegation explains why the company could only sell the piping "subject to whatever rights the city of St. Louis may be ent.i.tled to in certain underground pipes, sewers, and conduits in Forest Park." It can be stated that this complication of t.i.tle to the piping applied to two-thirds if not three-fourths of all of the piping which had been laid at the expense of the Exposition Company.

Because the copper wire was involved in the injunction proceedings, because the electric lights const.i.tuted a minor item as shown by the figures given above, because the piping was involved in the construction of the city ordinance, because the greater part of the fire apparatus was not owned by the Exposition Company these items were not mentioned in the original specifications.

As stated in the former letter, the intramural cars and equipments were excepted from all offers of sale because the company had already contracted for the sale of them.

After the first bids received under the specifications referred to in the tenth allegation had been rejected because they were in the opinion of the salvage committee wholly insufficient, new bids were asked for all of the salvage of the company including such right and t.i.tle as it might have in the copper wire, in the electric lights, in the iron piping, in the fire apparatus, etc., with the exceptions of the intramural cars and equipments and the property of the General Service Company. From that time to the acceptance of the proposition to sell the Chicago House Wrecking Company the negotiations proceeded on the plan that the Exposition Company would sell all right, t.i.tle, and interest to its property with the exceptions of the cars and equipments and property of the General Service Company.

Under the original specifications a certified check for one-half of the amount of the bid was required and the terms were half cash, but this requirement and these terms did not enter into the negotiations following the rejection of the first bids. All bidders showing a disposition to bid for right, t.i.tle, and interest of the Exposition Company to all salvage except as stated were treated alike. Certified checks were not required on these later bids. The negotiations were carried on verbally with the bidders in turn, it being understood that the company would insist upon what it deemed to be an adequate cash payment when the contract of sale was concluded.

The secretary of the company is authorized to say that the executive committee courts the fullest investigation of all circ.u.mstances connected with the sale of the salvage and that if the National Commission shall deem it necessary to include in its report mention of the allegations contained in the letter of the president of the Commission, dated February 28, the committee asks that in justice to the Exposition Company such investigation shall be made and the conclusions of the Commission shall be given.

Very respectfully, WALTER B. STEVENS, _Secretary._

Mr. LAURENCE H. GRAHAME, _Secretary National Commission, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C._

Another communication bearing on the disposition of the salvage was received from Mr. Stevens, as follows:

MARCH 23, 1905.

DEAR SIR: At a meeting of the National Commission on the 20th the suggestion was made by a member of the Commission that the answer to allegation third did not fully cover the ground. The allegation and the answer were:

That the exposition officials rejected higher bids than that of the Chicago House Wrecking Company, so that the latter might have further opportunity to raise its figures.

Answer. No higher bid was received either before or after the sum of $450,000 had been agreed upon to be recommended by the committee on salvage.

The purpose was to answer that no higher bid than that made by the Chicago House Wrecking Company was received either before; at the time, or after the sum of $450,000 had been agreed upon to be recommended by the committee on salvage.

On the 30th of November, early in the day, the Chicago House Wrecking Company made a bid for $420,000. Up to that time and during that day the next highest bid was under $400,000. Late in the day, the 30th of November, the salvage committee, after conference with all bidders who presented themselves, made the proposition to the Chicago House Wrecking Company that if it would raise its bid from $420,000 to $450,000 the committee would recommend acceptance by the executive committee.

Respectfully, WALTER B. STEVENS, _Secretary._

Mr. LAURENCE H. GRAHAME, _Secretary National Commission, Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C._

As a result of the inquiry inst.i.tuted by the Commission into the disposal of the salvage, statements supported by affidavits were received and the same are appended to this report and marked "Appendix No. 2."

Under the act of Congress the Commission had no power to undertake a more thorough investigation of the charges and allegations made in respect to the manner in which the salvage of the exposition had been disposed of.

Without authority to send for persons and papers, to administer oaths, or to compel witnesses to testify, any further attempt upon the part of the Commission to inquire into the salvage matter would have been futile and ineffective. If any further action is to be taken to ascertain whether or not the financial interest of the United States has been sacrificed by the manner in which the salvage was disposed of, the inquiry must be conducted by some committee or official having these powers, which the Commission did not possess.

A careful perusal of the law under which the Commission was appointed will show the narrow limits of its legal authority, and the records disclose the policy of the Exposition Company not only to confine the Commission strictly within the narrowest limits of the law, but also to question and resist the exercise of its authority in many instances where the law seemed to place such authority beyond question.

From the very beginning the Commission sought to establish harmonious relations with the company, and at all times refrained from contention with its officials as to all matters not vitally affecting the interest of the Government, and endeavored in every possible way to cooperate with the company in promoting the exposition and insuring its success.

It is pleasant to turn from disagreements to achievements. From the scientific, the artistic, and the industrial points of view the exposition was a p.r.o.nounced success. The munificent and unfailing support given the enterprise by the Government of the United States guaranteed that it would be a great exposition.

Considering the primary appropriation of $5,000,000, the loan of $4,600,000, and the contributions by the direct appropriations and by indirect means through the a.s.signment of officers paid from other appropriations, together with the exhibits from Districts, Territories, and dependencies of the United States, and for the Government exhibit, the aggregate contributions, direct and indirect, to the success of the fair approximated substantially $15,000,000 on the day the gates were opened to the public.

In addition to this proclamations were twice issued by the President inviting foreign nations to partic.i.p.ate in the exposition; the consular and diplomatic representatives of the Government were inspired to aid the exposition to the extent of their ability, within the limits of official propriety; the army transports and the vessels of the Navy were generously employed in furtherance of the project, where such employment was found consistent with duty. Never in history has any Government done so much in aid of any like enterprise. With such support from the Government failure was impossible under any rational management.

[Transcriber's note: The easiest way to explain the garbled nature of the following paragraph, is that the first line beginning with St. Louis is a misplaced duplicate of the third line below it, replacing some other typeslug.]

Fortunately the construction of the main exhibit buildings was placed by the directors of the Exposition Company in charge of two gentlemen deserving of special mention on account of the devotion and exceptional ability displayed by each. As chairman of the committee on grounds and buildings, Mr. William H. Thompson, of St. Louis, discharged the duty of director of works. To the united ous devotion to the task a.s.signed him. With rare ability and commendable persistence Mr. Isaac S. Taylor, the talented architect of St. Louis, discharged the duty of director of works. To the united efforts of these gentlemen the exposition and the country are indebted for the magnificent architectural creations which adorned the exposition grounds. Their relations to the work of construction and to the affairs of the company enabled them to act with a necessary degree of self-reliance and independence on their own initiative.

Among the many contributions made by the Government of the United States to the success of the exposition, the exhibit from the Philippine Islands deserves marked attention. This exhibit was so extensive, interesting, and unique that it became the center of predominating interest. Through its various departments a most valuable and accurate knowledge of the Philippine Archipelago was diffused, not only throughout the United States, but throughout the world.

By a fortunate coincidence it occurred that the Secretary of War, who had most to do with the marshaling of this exhibit, had been prepared for the work by his experience as governor of the Philippine Islands.

Hon. William H. Taft, as president of the Philippine Commission, and subsequently as governor of the Philippine Islands, manifested a sympathetic interest in the condition of the people, the resources of the islands, and in the proper adjustment of both to their new relations.h.i.+p with the United States. About the time the exposition was projected Governor Taft, whose long and faithful service in the Philippines had endeared him to the inhabitants, was called by the President to accept the portfolio of war. His familiarity with the people and the resources of the islands proved of inestimable value in the preparation of the representation and exhibits at the exposition.