Читать книгу Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission - Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission - Страница 39

SIR: Under date of May 26 Secretary Stevens transmitted to the National Commission what he denominated "The rules and regulations governing and restricting the issuance and use of passes," as adopted by the company and now in operation. This communication, with the rules referred to attached, was obviously intended as an answer to the communication of the Commission to the company on that subject under dates of May 10 and May 19.

I am directed by the Commission to call your attention to the following sentence contained in my letter of 19th, above referred to, to wit:

"Persons not entitled to admission to the grounds under article 5 of the rules and regulations can only be legally and properly admitted by the Exposition Company with the approval of the National Commission."

With that proposition the answer of the executive committee of your company takes issue by submitting what you evidently deemed a sufficient answer through rules and regulations adopted by the company and now in operation, without the approval of the Commission.

The Commission understands that the following issues arise from this letter and the correspondence to which it refers, to wit:

First. That the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company asserts and is exercising the asserted right to formulate and put into operation rules and regulations governing and restricting the issuance and use of free passes to the exposition grounds, without submitting such rules and regulations to the Commission and obtaining its approval thereof.

Second. That the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company asserts and is acting upon the assertion of its alleged right, through its officers and agents, to issue free passes to the exposition grounds without the concurrence or approval of the National Commission, expressed through general rules or regulations or otherwise.

In reply to these asserted rights, and the exercise thereof by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission denies the right of the company to promulgate and put into operation rules and regulations governing and prescribing the issuance and use of free passes to the exposition grounds without submitting such rules and regulations to the Commission, and without obtaining its approval thereof, and denies the right of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company to issue free passes to the exposition grounds without the concurrence or approval of the National Commission, expressed through general rules and regulations, or otherwise.

Upon the two issues here presented the Commission invokes the judgment of the board of arbitration, provided for in section 4 of the act of Congress, entitled:

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

For convenience a copy of the correspondence referred to is hereunto attached.

Hon. John M. Allen and Hon. John M. Thurston, the members of the Commission appointed to act for this body on the board of arbitration, will hold themselves in readiness to meet the members of that board appointed by the company at their pleasure.

Yours, very respectfully,

THOS. H. CARTER.

Hon. D.R. FRANCIS,

President Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company.

On June 14 the Exposition Company submitted certain rules and regulations governing the issuance of passes. The Commission gave due consideration to the proposed rules, and on June 25 returned them to the Exposition Company with certain modifications, which the executive committee of the Exposition Company refused to adopt. Whereupon, on July 7, the Commission, by resolution, demanded immediate arbitration on the matter and protested against the issuance of free admissions pending a decision by the board of arbitration.

Mr. Joseph Flory, secretary of the Commission since its organization,

resigned from that office on July 1, 1904. Mr. Lawrence H. Grahame, of

New York, assistant secretary, was elected as secretary to succeed Mr.

Flory.

On July 13, 1904, the board of arbitration of the Commission and the Exposition Company finally met, and the question of free passes was discussed. Another meeting of the arbitrators was held on July 18, and rules and regulations governing the use of passes were drafted.

These rules were subsequently adopted by the company and approved by the

Commission on July 20, 1904. The rules read as, follows:

Resolved, That the rules and regulations governing free admission to the exposition grounds, prepared by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company, governing the corporation are fixed and established by said company to read as follows:

The official badges of the officers and directors of the company, directors of divisions, and chiefs of departments of the exposition, duly approved by the board of directors of the company; the official badges of the officers and members of the National Commission, duly approved by said Commission; and the official badge of the board of lady managers, duly approved by said board, shall entitle the officers and members wearing the same to free admission to the exposition grounds.

Card passes for the entire period of the exposition will be issued to the following officials and their wives, to wit:

The President of the United States.

The Vice-President of the United States.

Members of the Cabinet.

Judges of the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Secretary to the President of the United States.

Members and officers of the National Commission.

The directors and officers of the Exposition Company.

The mayor of the city of St. Louis.

Card passes for the entire period of the exposition will be

issued to the following persons, to wit:

Members of both Houses of Congress, and the chief officers

thereof.

The Diplomatic Corps.

The diplomatic representatives of the United States abroad.

The governors of States, Territories, Districts, and dependencies of the United States, and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

Commissioners of foreign countries accredited to the exposition.

Commissioners of States, Territories, Districts, and

dependencies of the United States accredited to the exposition.

Directors of divisions and chiefs of the departments and bureaus

of the exposition.

The widows of deceased directors of the Exposition Company.

The members of the board of lady managers.

Members of the United States Government board.

The commander of the Jefferson Guards and his official aides.

The members and chief officers of the municipal assembly of the

city of St. Louis.

The heads of departments of the municipal government of the city

of St. Louis.

The chief of police and the chief of the detective force of St.

Louis.

Limited admission passes will be granted, under such rules and regulations as the Exposition Company may prescribe, to the following classes of persons whose duties require their presence upon the exposition grounds, to wit:

The judges and jurors of awards.

Employees of the Exposition Company.

Employees of the National Commission.

Employees of the board of lady managers.

Officers and employees of the United States actually in charge of or connected with the Government exhibits, or otherwise officially engaged within the exposition grounds.

Agents and employees of foreign governments actually in charge of or connected with their exhibits or buildings.

Duly accredited press representatives.

Private exhibitors and their employees.

Concessionaires and their employees.

The term "employee" as herein used shall be construed as meaning only such persons as are actually and necessarily employed within the exposition grounds, and when in any case such employment ceases the pass shall be taken up and canceled.

A vehicle may be admitted to the grounds upon payment of 50 cents, but the driver and occupants thereof shall be subject to the general rules governing admissions.

Provided, That all official vehicles and the vehicles of officers and directors of the Exposition Company, of officers and members of the National Commission, and the members of the board of lady managers shall, with the driver thereof, be admitted free upon presentation of official permit.

Any person entering the grounds upon a badge or card pass shall be required to deposit with the gate keeper a personal card with pass number thereon.

In exceptional cases the president of the Exposition Company may issue passes to persons not included in the foregoing classification, when such action is deemed for the best interest of the exposition.

Passes will not be replaced during the period for which same may have been issued. When a pass is lost, prompt notice should be given to the department of admissions in order that notice of same may be posted and the pass taken up if presented.

When an employee is discharged or resigns, a pass will not be issued to his successor until the original pass is returned to the department of admissions.

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition reserves the right to call in and revoke or cancel any pass at any time.

Passes are void and will be forfeited if showing any evidence of alteration or erasure. All passes are nontransferable, and will be forfeited if presented by any other than person named thereon.

Any person holding a pass may be required to prove his identity

by signature or otherwise.

All passes will be issued subject to the conditions printed

thereon.

All passes issued in conflict with the foregoing rules and

regulations shall be recalled and canceled.

The Exposition Company shall furnish the National Commission a complete list of all card passes and a statement of all other passes issued prior to July 1, classified as to departments, divisions, and bureaus, as accurately as may be done from the books of the company, and hereafter the company shall keep an accurate record by departments, divisions, and bureaus, showing all passes issued by each under the foregoing rules, and shall furnish a copy of such record to the National Commission with each monthly financial statement, and such statement shall contain a list of all card passes issued during the month to which the financial report refers.

Prior to the approval of the rules and regulations governing free admissions to the exposition grounds, the president of the Exposition Company exercised a free hand in the distribution of passes.

On April 30, and during the month of May, 1904, of the 1,841,275 total admissions only 667,772 were paid admissions, thus making the free admissions substantially two-thirds of the total.

In June, 1904, the total admissions were 2,448,519, and of this number 1,382,865 were paid.

In July an improvement occurred. Of the 2,498,265 admissions during that month, 1,514,743 were paid. Thenceforward less than one-half of the total admissions were free. But notwithstanding the effort to check this abuse it was indulged to such an extent that the final totals make a remarkable showing, as follows:

Total admissions during the entire period

of the exposition … … … … … … . … . 20,066,537

Total paid admissions during the entire

period of the exposition … … … … . … 12,804,616

The total attendance and the paid admissions at the exposition do not compare favorably with those of the Columbian Exposition of 1893. The Columbian Exposition was conducted during a period of great financial depression, while the St. Louis Exposition was held during a period of remarkable prosperity. The Government aid extended to the latter was far greater in every respect than was given the former.

The method of advertising the exposition adopted by the company was a subject of constant and almost universal criticism, and complaints were made to the Commission and in the public press that exploitation of the fair was inadequate. On every possible occasion members of the Commission personally brought the matter to the attention of the exposition officials and suggested that steps be taken to give the enterprise wider publicity.

The Commission received communications and personal visits almost daily from persons interested in the success of the exposition, urging that some official action be taken to improve the existing advertising arrangements. So insistent became the demand for greater publicity that the president of the Commission addressed the following letter to the Exposition Company, suggesting the importance of properly advertising the exposition throughout the country.