Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission Part 15

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 munic.i.p.al a.s.sembly of the city of St. Louis.

The heads of departments of the munic.i.p.al government of the city of St. Louis.

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

Louis.

Limited admission pa.s.ses will be granted, under such rules and regulations as the Exposition Company may prescribe, to the following cla.s.ses 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 pa.s.s 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 pa.s.s shall be required to deposit with the gate keeper a personal card with pa.s.s number thereon.

In exceptional cases the president of the Exposition Company may issue pa.s.ses to persons not included in the foregoing cla.s.sification, when such action is deemed for the best interest of the exposition.

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

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

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

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

Any person holding a pa.s.s may be required to prove his ident.i.ty by signature or otherwise.

All pa.s.ses will be issued subject to the conditions printed thereon.

All pa.s.ses 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 pa.s.ses and a statement of all other pa.s.ses issued prior to July 1, cla.s.sified 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 pa.s.ses 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 pa.s.ses 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 pa.s.ses.

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.

JULY 20, 1904.

DEAR SIR: By direction of the National Commission, I respectfully call your attention to the apparent need for an extension and enlargement of the publicity feature of the exposition.

The zeal and efficiency of the press of the city of St. Louis has demonstrated what may be done in the creation of active interest by enlightened exploitation through the public press.

Within the range of the general circulation of the papers published in this city all features of the fair have been made known; but, unhappily, the journals of this city, like those of all other cities, enjoy general circulation only in a limited area. Beyond the line of the special influence of the local press the extensive proportions and interesting details of the fair do not appear to the Commission to have been made known to the general public, to the extent or in the manner calculated to inspire the interest and secure the attendance warranted by the extraordinary merits of the great educational force here installed. In the opinion of the Commission this delinquency does not arise from any lack of devotion to the public welfare by the press of the country at large.

The munificent recognition of the fair by the General Government attracted national attention. The invitation extended by the President of the United States, under authority of law, to the nations of the earth to partic.i.p.ate in the exposition, supplemented by the cordial cooperation of our diplomatic and consular representatives abroad, secured the most extensive foreign partic.i.p.ation ever accorded to any like undertaking.

Moved thereto by the example of the National Government, the States, Territories, and dependencies of the United States joined in the exposition with unparalleled generosity and enthusiasm. The groups of palatial buildings erected by the foreign governments and by the States and minor subdivisions of our country, together with the exhibits installed in the exhibition palaces provided by the company, bear the amplest testimony of their earnest desire to make the exposition a p.r.o.nounced success. The splendid exhibit installed here by the government of the Philippine Islands rises to the proportions of an exposition on its own account.

The buildings are completed, the exhibits are installed, and the exposition has been in progress for substantially three-sevenths of its allotted period. The faith of the management in the merits of the exposition has been justified by the approving judgment of all who have entered the gates; but the daily attendance has been far short of what it should be from any point of view.

Unhappily, the magnificent proportions and the numberless attractions of the exposition do not seem to be fully understood by the ma.s.ses of the people throughout the United States, whence attendance must be chiefly expected. The results obtained from the territory commanded by the press of St. Louis warrants the belief that the unsatisfactory conditions prevailing would be overcome if the country at large could be adequately advised of what is to be seen, learned, and enjoyed within these grounds.

All the National, State, Territorial, and District governments partic.i.p.ating in the exposition are quite as much interested as the company in the diffusion of knowledge concerning the merits of the exposition and securing the attendance of the largest number of people who may find it possible to enjoy the benefits and the pleasure of a visit to the grounds. It appears to the Commission that the company may well call to its aid the forces referred to. The details through which publicity may be widely extended might wisely be made the result of a conference by a committee made up of persons appointed by the Exposition Company, the National Commission, and the representatives of Governments, States, Territories, and Districts having duly accredited commissioners appointed to represent them. It is probable that such a conference would find the representatives of each Government, State, and District anxious to cooperate by furnis.h.i.+ng detailed information along well-considered lines concerning the partic.i.p.ation of each in the fair. For example, the people of New York will be interested in a well-prepared description of the exhibits of that State, whereas the same subject-matter would not be of like interest to the people of California; but, on the contrary, the people of California would be interested in a graphic description of California exhibits.

The newspapers of the respective States will, without doubt, cheerfully give s.p.a.ce to descriptive matter directly relating to the exhibits and achievements of their readers.

One instance has been called to the attention of the Commission where the names of visitors to the fair, registered at a State building, are being forwarded to the leading daily papers of the State, and published as a matter of news in their columns. The papers in question not only publish the list of arrivals at the exposition, but have called for any other matter of interest occurring here relating to the people or affairs of the State.

This method of publicity pursued by the commissioners of one State might, as the result of conference, become generally adopted. The Exposition Company could well afford to aid and a.s.sist in the preparation of descriptive articles, accompanied by plate matter, relating to different localities, because it is evident that the creation of interest in any locality will contribute to the general purpose. But it is not the intention to here attempt to detail the many ways of securing merited publicity which would undoubtedly evolve from a general conference by representatives of all the interested forces.

The commissioners representing the various States and governments are persons of wide experience and broad intelligence; and they are all, in their respective spheres, undoubtedly as anxious to contribute to the success of the exposition as the directors and officers of the Exposition Company are known to be.