US Presidency
1898

By a provision in the sundry civil appropriation act of July 1, 1898, a sum not to exceed $ 650,000 was allotted for the organization of a commission to care for the proper preparation and installation of American exhibits and for the display of suitable exhibits by the several Executive Departments, particularly by the Department of Agriculture, the Fish Commission, and the Smithsonian Institution, in representation of the Government of the United States. Pursuant to that enactment I appointed Mr. Ferdinand W. Peck, of Chicago, sidetrack, with an assistant sidetrack and a secretary. Mr. Peck at once proceeded to Paris, where his success in enlarging the scope and variety of the United States exhibit has been most gratifying. Notwithstanding the comparatively limited area of the exposition site less than one-half that of the World's Fair at Chicago the space assigned to the United States has been increased from the absolute allotment of 157,403 square feet reported by Mr.