Chicago: Its History and Its Builders ...

CHICAGO TO SECURE THE FAIR-EFFORTS OF OTHER CITIES IN SAME DIRECTION-
INFLUENCES BROUGHT TO BEAR ON CONGRESS INITIAL
-SUBSCRIPTIONS TO STOCK-ARGUMENTS BEFORE CONGRESS CHICAGO SELECTED
AS SITE OF FAIR-CONGRESS PROVIDES FOR A "COMMISSION"
POWERS OF COMMIS-
SION-THOMAS W. PALMER ITS PRESIDENT THE ILLINOIS CORPORATION-NAMES OF
DIRECTORS "WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION," NAME CHOSEN LYMAN J. GAGE
ELECTED PRESIDENT-SELECTION OF A SITE-LAKE FRONT FAVORED AT FIRST-
JACKSON PARK FINALLY DECIDED UPON-TWO GOVERNING BODIES THREATEN
CONFUSION-HARMONY SECURED BY "COMPACT"- -CONSTRUCTION DEPARTMENT
CREATED D. H. BURNHAM CHOSEN CHIEF GENERAL PLANS CONSIDERED-WIL-
LIAM T. BAKER SUCCEEDS GAGE AS PRESIDENT-BAKER IS SUCCEEDED BY H. N.
HIGINBOTHAM HIGINBOTHAM BECOMES GUIDING SPIRIT OF THE EXPOSITION—
BURNHAM'S SPLENDID SERVICES FINANCIAL LEGISLATION BY THE

PRESIDENT

GENERAL AS

ISSUES PROC

SEMBLY-TEN MILLIONS OF DOLLARS SUBSCRIBED-THE
LAMATION ANNOUNCING THE FAIR ESTIMATES OF COST COUNCIL OF ADMIN-
ISTRATION-CONGRESS ASKED FOR DIRECT APPROPRIATION- -"SOUVENIR COIN"
MEASURE PASSED DISAPPOINTMENT IN SALES AT PROPOSED PREMIUM-SLOW SALE
OF EXPOSITION BONDS THE DIRECTORY AT THE END OF ITS RESOURCES-THE RAIL-
ROAD COMPANIES COME TO THE RESCUE.

BEGINNINGS OF THE WORLD'S FAIR MOVEMENT

T the annual meeting of the stockholders of the Inter-State Industrial Exposition, held November 14th, 1885, Mr. Edwin Lee Brown, one of the directors, offered the following resolution, which was adopted: "That it is the sense of this meeting that a great World's Fair be held in Chicago in the year 1892, the four hundredth anniversary of the landing of Columbus in America." This resolution at once attracted public attention and became the subject of much discussion in the press of the city and the country at

large. "Many public men who were interviewed," says Andreas, "heartily commended the proposed World's Exposition, and it was deemed peculiarly appropriate for Chicago, the youngest, most enterprising and representative American city, to celebrate the landing of the great navigator of Genoa upon the new continent."

The celebration of the Centennial of the inauguration of George Washington as the first president of the United States in 1889, in Chicago, gave a fresh impetus to the movement for a World's Fair. The assembling on April 30th of that year of one hundred thousand people in eight mass meetings, and of two hundred thousand school children in over two hundred meetings, simultaneously, created such enthusiasm that it was considered an opportune time to prepare for the World's Fair in 1892. On July 22, 1889, the Chicago Common Council, in a series of resolutions, requested the Mayor to appoint a committee of one hundred representative citizens to take charge of the matter, and use all honorable means to secure the location of the Fair in Chicago. The Mayor on his own motion increased the number of citizens composing the committee to two hundred and fifty. On the first of August following, the committee met in the Council chamber and adopted resolutions in harmony with the purposes expressed in the Council resolutions.

While this was going on in Chicago, other cities were not idle. The people of New York and Washington were also holding meetings of a similar character, and making plans to have the World's Fair held in each one of those cities, and later St. Louis also took steps to the same end. New York proceeded to appoint committees on site, legislation, finance, etc., taking it for granted that the Fair would be held in that city as soon as the request to that effect should be made to Congress. These committees apparently did not work in harmony, and there was no system by which one knew what was being done by the others.

ORGANIZATION OF THE MOVEMENT

Chicago organized by the appointment of eleven standing committees, with the same secretary for each committee. Thus through this secretary all serious friction was avoided, and the committees moved together to the accomplishment of the one result. Mr. Edward F. Cragin was the secretary appointed for each of the committees, and his account of these preliminary steps is condensed from his published statement made afterwards in the New York Mail and Express.

The membership of these committees was enlarged from time to time until there were over six thousand citizens of Chicago and the surrounding country members of these main committees and the sub-committees appointed from them. The question of site was not discussed by any of them, except so far as to prepare a number of sites which were to be presented to Congress as being available. Men thoroughly familiar with all the arguments in favor of Chicago were sent into nearly every state of the Union, with a view of influencing the constituents of the members of Congress in their several districts. Thus the congressmen in a large number of districts were deluged with petitions from labor unions, manufacturers' associations, etc., and many state legislatures also passed resolutions favoring Chicago as the location of the proposed World's Fair.

It thus came about that before Congress assembled the congressmen were made

fully aware of the wishes of their constituents, among which the preference for Chicago largely preponderated. Effective work was done by one of the standing committees, that on National Agitation, of which Thomas B. Bryan was the chairman. "We were very careful in all our speeches and documents," writes Mr. Cragin, "not to present our case as that of Chicago against New York, but rather to show the advantage that would accrue to the great interior by having the Fair held in Chicago."

The argument was made that foreign nations would prefer to exhibit in New York, and to meet this argument (again using the words of the account), "we corresponded with every American consul in the world, asking them to inquire of the manufacturers and those who would be liable to exhibit, whether a seacoast or interior location for the World's Fair would be most desirable to exhibitors; and these answers were published and furnished the congressmen, and showed quite a majority in favor of an interior city as against a seacoast city.”

When Congress assembled, New York, Washington, St. Louis, and Chicago had each a strong delegation working in behalf of their various cities. "New York's delegation was specially strong and ably conducted," writes Mr. Cragin. "Messrs. Platt, Depew, Hiscock, Belden, Flower, Shepard, Whitney, Fitch, Grant, and others of national prominence were giving superb banquets and dinners, and working tooth and nail for the success of New York. Chicago men from the first urged that a vote might be taken promptly; this however, they failed to secure, being out-maneuvered by the New York managers." The excitement ran high and great pressure was brought to bear upon congressmen to obtain their support. When the vote was at length reached it was found that Chicago received nearly as many votes as had been pledged to her, and it then appeared to the astonishment of the Eastern people that Chicago from the first had by far the largest number of votes. in her favor.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

A principal source of information regarding the World's Fair is found in the "History of the World's Columbian Exposition," edited by Rossiter Johnson, and published in four large volumes, in 1897. This history was authorized and paid for by the Exposition. In the preface to the work the editor says: "The materials from which the History has been compiled are the records of proceedings of the Board of Directors, and documents on file in the general offices; the reports of Harlow N. Higinbotham, President of the Company; George R. Davis, Director General; Daniel H. Burnham, Director of Works; Mrs. Potter Palmer, President of the Board of Lady Managers, and other reports by subordinate officers."

It appears that the editor never visited the Exposition at any time, and his work on the history therefore may possibly be lacking in the inspiration and first hand knowedge to be derived only from personal contact with the scenes and incidents on the spot. The work, however, is as full and satisfactory as could be expected when it is remembered that it is compiled mainly from official reports. The most important of these reports was that of the President of the Exposition, Mr. Higinbotham, whose volume of nearly five hundred pages, separately published, contains an excellent account of the inception and progress of the Exposition, infused with a spirit of enthusiasm and sympathy with the subject that is most admirable. This.

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