Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission Part 66

We were paying our day laborers 22 cents an hour and the railroads throughout the country were giving them 22 1/2 cents an hour; on the 25th of September they wrote that they had four demands: One was the recognition of the union (no one ever knew they had a union); second, that eight hours should const.i.tute a day; third, they should get 30 cents an hour, and fourth, time and one-half for overtime. Well, in order not to stop our work I told the men to pay them 25 cents an hour, but that we could not limit our work to an eight-hour day; it was in the fall and we had to take advantage of the fine weather--we would pay them 25 cents an hour and work as long as we wished them to work--ten hours. I said to the laborers this is not a commercial enterprise; we are not running this for gain; we have put up $10,000,000 or $16,000,000; we are doing a patriotic duty, celebrating an historical event. * * *

We have 50 per cent more of buildings under roof than Chicago had at this time. We have 1,240 acres of ground s.p.a.ce covered by buildings, while Chicago had 679 acres, which is nearly twice as much. When we say that the Chicago Company spent $22,000,000 I think you will say that under the circ.u.mstances $19,500,000 is a small amount for us to spend. Of course we have profited by their experience, which should be valuable to us.

A committee was appointed on December 16, 1903, to confer with President Carter, and place before him the following resolution:

_Resolved_, That the board of lady managers respectfully request the National Commission to suspend its rules limiting the further appointments upon the board, for the purpose of appointing a representative from the city of St. Louis upon the board of lady managers.

On the same day the following communication was received in reply:

DEAR MISS DAWES: The Commission has under consideration the question propounded by you, understood to be substantially as follows: "Is it the intention of the Commission and the Exposition Company to suspend the rule heretofore adopted, whereby it is provided that no appointment will be made on the board of lady managers, until the number shall be reduced below twenty-one?"

In reply, I am authorized by the Commission to say that the Exposition Company, speaking through its president, has intimated that the executive committee of the company will present a request to the Commission for the suspension of the rule referred to, to the end that a lady residing in the city of St. Louis may be appointed a member of the board of lady managers, under such suspension of the rule.

This request, we are advised, will be presented by the company to-day, and the Commission is disposed to suspend the rule by unanimous consent in conformity to the request when presented, and to appoint the lady recommended by the executive committee of the company. You will be advised of the action of the Commission on the subject under consideration the earliest practicable moment.

Very respectfully, THOMAS H. CARTER, _President_.

MISS ANNA L. DAWES, _Chairman of Committee, Board of Lady Managers._

On December 18 the following letter was received from the president of the National Commission on the same subject:

ST. Louis, _December 17, 1903._

MADAM: By direction of the Commission I am authorized to acknowledge receipt of your resolution recommending that the Commission suspend the rule restricting the members.h.i.+p of the board of lady managers, to the end that an appointment may be made of a representative from the city of St. Louis. In reply thereto you are informed that the rule referred to can not be suspended, save by the joint action of this Commission and the Exposition Company. The Commission feels indisposed to initiate any movement looking to its suspension. If requested by the Exposition Company to suspend the rule for the purpose of naming some lady residing in St. Louis, recommended by the Exposition Company, the Commission would probably, by unanimous consent, suspend the rule for that purpose.

Very respectfully, THOMAS H. CARTER, _President._

MRS. DANIEL MANNING, _President Board Lady Managers._

As no decision could be reached by the executive committee of the Exposition Company in regard to a choice of representative from the city of St. Louis on the board of lady managers, the board felt the necessity of selecting a president from its existing members.h.i.+p, and at the next session, on December 16, 1903, again held in the Administration Building, Mrs. John M. Holcombe moved that "we proceed at once to elect a president of this board."

Mrs. Buchwalter, the chairman, stated that it was in order to proceed with the election of a president of the board, and asked for nominations. Miss Helen M. Gould spoke as follows:

I would like to nominate Mrs. Daniel Manning for this office.

Mrs. Manning has had large experience in matters of this kind as head of the Daughters of the American Revolution, having resided in Was.h.i.+ngton as the wife of one of the members of Mr.

Cleveland's cabinet, and in representing our country abroad, having been one of our representatives at the Paris Exposition.

I understand that Mrs. Manning is one of two women from this country who received the decoration from the French Government, and I take pleasure in nominating her for the office of president of this board. This nomination was seconded by several members, and, as no other nominations were made, the tellers announced the result of the vote: For Mrs. Manning, 13 votes: one blank, Mrs. Manning not voting.

The chairman then thanked the members of the board for the sympathy and help they had given her.

In reply the secretary extended to Mrs. Buchwalter the sincere thanks of the members of the board for the efficient work she had performed as their first vice-president and honorable chairman, and Miss Dawes spoke for the entire board in expressing her thanks to Mrs. Buchwalter for her impartiality, confidence, good management, and elegance in presiding.

Mrs. Daniel Manning, the newly elected president, then took the chair and thanked the board for the honor conferred upon her.

The order of business was then proceeded with, and, pursuant to a wish expressed by the National Commission to meet the board of lady managers, the members of the Commission were announced and Mrs. Manning said:

Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Commission: We understood that you would graciously come over and talk with us a little while. We are starting in on a new lease of life. We want to work for the exposition to the best of our ability. We want your advice and wish to consult you about a number of matters, but, first, we would like to hear from you.

President Carter responded as follows:

Madam President and Ladies: We have come to say a few words to you and to have you consult with us upon any subjects you desire to bring up. I do not know how graciously we have come, but we come very cheerfully. The subject of your remark has been under consideration for a long time and we all regret that a more definite conclusion has not been reached relative to the sphere of your activity in connection with the World's Fair. I think your report, the report of your committee, of which Mrs.

Montgomery is chairman, and which she recently submitted, crystallizes into close compa.s.s about the line of action the board might appropriately pursue. The report referred to dealt not only with the conclusion reached, but the details whereby those conclusions were reached. It included discussions, formal and informal, and certain correspondence relating to the subject. The Commission has approved that report in so far as it prescribed in definite form the sphere of your work, and, with the approval of the Commission, that report has been forwarded to the local company. These resolutions or statements made by your board, which in your judgment would const.i.tute a proper sphere of action, seem to embody a field sufficiently broad to be worthy of your intentions. It was hoped by the Commission that during the present session of the board, the members of the local company, together with the Commission, would be present for a conference--more informal than formal--which might result in a correct and definite understanding as to just what you were to do, and how you were to do it.

The only conclusion which has been reached is that which gives you a contingent fund, which seems to have been adequate for the meager necessities of the past, but I believe that up to this hour the exact part your board is playing in connection with making this exposition a success, is far too indefinite to be satisfactory to you, and it is certainly not satisfactory to the Commission. Our Commission will adjourn to meet on the 10th of January, and we hope by that time to be in receipt of some communication from the Exposition Company announcing their disposition of the report I have referred to, and the scope of the work of the board of lady managers. Notwithstanding that will be at a very late date, it is well to have it in sight.

The ladies of your board have been engaged without much credit being given to the board or to the ladies themselves, in the work of exploitation. A number of the ladies have done most efficient work in their respective States--and some, in the adjoining States--calling the attention of the people at large, and in some instances the legislative sessions, to the vastness, scope, and policy of the exposition. It is unfortunate that your board does not receive the credit which this line of meritorious effort deserves. In the end, I doubt not, that in the final reports you will be accorded full measure of credit for what you have done individually and collectively. The past has been devoid of results because of a lack of understanding to start with. I think you are now beginning an era more promising than any outlook you have had in the past. I congratulate you upon having reached a condition of harmony within your own organization, which speaks well for the future. The earnestness of this board, the disinterestedness of its members, leading them in the first instance to volunteer their services to this great enterprise, has been an example to the whole country of national devotion, which has been of great advantage to the exposition management; your gratuitous and earnest effort has been a means of making the exposition favorably known throughout this country, at least. Your expenses have been very light--I believe, up to this time, less than $20,000, in the neighborhood of $20,000--which, considering the long distances traveled, and the number of meetings, is a trifling sum in comparison with what has been spent by similar boards of former expositions.

As you are aware, the act of Congress, under which both the Commission and your board find warrant for existence, granted to the local company an appropriation of $5,000,000 for the purposes of giving this exposition. We have probably in moments of inconsiderate feeling been too p.r.o.ne to find fault--I speak of the Commission, not of the ladies--p.r.o.ne to find fault with the people here who have been doing the best they could. There has been a disposition to a.s.sume the control, to the exclusion of outside agencies; and this is but natural because it is inseparable--or is in evidence with reference to all official places in our Government--in fact, it has been noticed that a man, who is ordinarily indolent, when placed in power will become very energetic in this respect.

The Exposition Company has a.s.sumed a full measure of the responsibilities--and possibly some of our responsibilities as well--for which we have not been duly grateful. Nevertheless, we are not inclined to blame these people, because they have contributed very largely and generously of local means to aid this enterprise, which leads them to the desire to supervise each and every detail in connection with this work. This desire to a.s.sume full responsibility is possibly responsible for the failure to a.s.sign to the ladies any particular work, and is also responsible for the curtailing of the jurisdiction of the National Commission. As the work progresses, however, I think that the company realizes the necessity of drawing upon all the forces available to make the exposition a success.

This Commission had a long and pleasant interview with the president of the exposition, at which time he brought out a desire for cooperation and a.s.sistance that had not yet been manifested. I believe now, as your body is organized, from the harmonious work accomplished at these meetings, and its cordial relations with the Exposition Company, and certainly with the Commission, the future promises more than has been accorded to similar organizations in the past. * * * We thank you, ladies, for the privilege of being before you, and cheerfully extend our salutations on the election of your president and upon the good will and spirit of harmony which prevails among you.

Mr. Lindsay then spoke as follows:

The board of lady managers exists by operation of law, the same that called the National Commission into existence. It was the duty of the National Commission to create it. It was the duty of the National Commission and of the local board to prescribe the powers and duties of the board of lady managers. Of course, these duties could not be accurately and technically laid out; we could only confer the power, and that would suggest what duties--what power within that general grant they should exercise. It is not the duty of the board of lady managers to be supervised by or to be subject to the local board. I was struck when I read the report made by Mrs. Montgomery of her interview with the local board, not by the gracious manner in which she was received and the graceful questions that were asked, but by the absolute failure in any particular to give definite reply or take any action upon any of the recommendations made by that committee.

What I think this board ought to do is to outline or prescribe the actual things it intends to do, report that to the National Commission and the local board, and then go ahead, not waiting to know whether this or that is within its powers or whether or not this is expedient and whether it can be carried out. Let some one take the responsibility of saying you can not do this or can not do that. As long as you deal in generalities with the National Commission, or agree to everything that is brought up by the local company, this board of lady managers will never become an active part or parcel of this great exposition.

I do not agree with my friend, Senator Carter, on another thing, and that is that these people are ent.i.tled to any consideration on account of the money they have expended. They came to Congress and asked Congress for authority to do this very thing; they did not come to Congress for any benefit that they expected to result to the country, but on account of their own local interests and to glorify the Louisiana Purchase and the people of the Louisiana Purchase, and, upon agreeing that they would do these things, privilege was granted by Congress, and the appropriation made. That appropriation is not part of their fund--that is the fund of the United States which is being distributed in the city of St. Louis, preeminently for the city and generally for the United States. And was not this board of lady managers created by the very act of Congress, and have you not some rights in this matter, to the end that you may accomplish the work that has been a.s.signed to you?

I say the time has come when we have got to talk plainly and make some one responsible for your action or nonaction. If either board considers that you are going beyond your powers they will have the right to make restrictions, but as long as you keep within these powers and what you think you ought to do, I doubt if your work will be restricted in any way.

It is now only four months before the exposition opens, and if there is ever going to be anything accomplished by this board it is none too early to begin. For instance, the act of Congress provides that this board name a judge on all the juries that are to pa.s.s upon the results of female labor; we agreed to it and the local board agreed to it. Now, then, have you any notice of on which juries you are to be allowed to name a juror? Have any steps been taken to indicate on which of these committees you are to make appointments? The time has come for this work and if you are to have any authority, or if you are to do any of this work, it will not be of credit to this board unless you are able to make the proper preparations for these appointments. But if you have three months to look around, you will be able to find the proper persons and make these appointments intelligently. I hope before the next meeting of the National Commission you will have agreed specifically upon what you can do, what you desire to do, and what you are ready to do, so that the scope of action and authority of this board can be conferred upon it and insisting that the local board here either approve or disapprove of your action.

I appreciate all the troubles and difficulties these people have had, and it is my earnest hope that they will be able to give the members of this board a decided answer within the next month. * * *

In reply to a statement made by a member of the board that in an interview with the executive committee of the Exposition Company, Mr.

Skiff, the director of exhibits, had said he could not give a list of exhibitors (or exhibits) until near the time of the opening of the exposition, because he did not know what would be entered, and the lists would not be completed until about that time. Mr. Lindsay further said:

It was my opinion that when the lists of cla.s.sification were completed, there was nothing else to be inquired into; in that list, everything which includes the result of female labor, const.i.tutes the cla.s.s on which you are to appoint a juror. The general cla.s.sification forms a list that would be used for this purpose.

But referring to another matter, I think that there should have been provided by act of Congress a fund set apart for the ladies, to be used by them. Because, as long as you are compelled to go to the Commission, or to go to the local board to ascertain what you can spend or what you can not spend, just so long you will not be able to do anything effectually. I know that the local board is going to object to all this, but when the local board finds that by consenting to your reasonable wishes it is enhancing the interests of the exposition, it will agree to a proper appropriation and other proper demands made by your board which relieve that board of any further duties on the subject. I believe that I have said all I care to say. But, referring to the rules: That board and the Commission can advise you not to enforce certain rules, when the enforcement of them would lead you into difficulties, but just as long as the rules you make for yourselves are within the scope of authority and duties granted us and prescribed to you, you can take directions from the board or from the Commission if you choose to, but you do not need to do this unless you choose to.

In response to the request of Mrs. Manning that Senator Thurston say a few words, he responded:

Perhaps everybody has been a little delinquent in getting this board organized and in position where it can take up some proper work that will be of benefit and be agreeable to the ladies. I think, perhaps, without going into past history, that the board of lady managers perhaps has failed to do what it might have done in the way of formulating a plan for its own partic.i.p.ation in the exposition and that was growing out of circ.u.mstances which no longer exist. I believe now this board is organized with a president who is heart and soul for the success of the exposition. Without being tied up to anything in the way of local interests, it will be better able to compete with the coming situation. There is, and has been a great deal of hesitancy on the part of the National Commission about attempting to outline a plan of action for this board of lady managers. We provided for your appointment according to law, and we fell into the belief, I hope it was not an error, that the ladies on this board would know a great deal better what they wanted to do, what they ought to do, and what would be best for them to do than this board of men, who had never had anything to do with these ladies' departments except to partic.i.p.ate in the enjoyment of them when so fortunate as to be present.

Now, you have prepared and outlined and accepted your rules and regulations which were approved by our Commission along in June, I think. They were prepared in April--those rules and regulations were more than regulations for the procedure of your board, as I recollect them, they very largely outlined the field of work for the board of lady managers. They were adopted and modified a little by the National Commission and sent to the local company. They were prepared in April, promptly sent to the local company because we thought without their action they could not go into effect and there they have been ever since. To a limited extent it was never necessary to send them there, so far as the organization and management of the board of lady managers is concerned--but, when you step over that or attempt to outline the scope of your work, and your partic.i.p.ation in the affairs of the exposition, that part must go to the National Commission and be approved.

Suppose, for instance, these ladies decided they would like to partic.i.p.ate in one of the National Congresses, that they would take charge of a certain Congress out at the exposition, I do not think any of them could do that without the sanction of the local company.

I am very positive in my views that when it comes to providing for the legislation of this board for its partic.i.p.ation in the fair, it can not be done without the National Commission, and especially without the permission of the company. I do not think that they can decide to take up certain lines of work and go out there to do it without having some agreement on the subject.

At the meeting of the board on the day following, December 17, 1903, Mrs. Hanger tendered her resignation from the office of the secretary of the board of lady managers, and Miss Lavinia II. Eagan was unanimously elected to fill the vacancy. Upon this occasion Mrs. Coleman presented the following motion:

That the resignation of Mrs. Hanger from the office of secretary of this board be accepted with regret, and that Mrs. Hanger be extended a hearty vote of thanks for her faithful, painstaking, and efficient work for the board as such official.

One of the most brilliant courtesies tendered the board of lady managers was the reception given in its honor by the Woman's Club, at the club house, on December 17.