New-York tribune., 1876-10-27
BOTCHING TIE 4 WARDS.
IS THE AMERICAN SYSTEM A FAILURE'

is THE AMERICAN SYSTEM 4 FAILCREf
SECRET ACuoN OF THE CENTENNIAL COMMISSION
NO SIGNATURES OF JUDGES 10 HE REPOEls-
PROTEST OF GEN. wALKTR.
rvRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or THE TEIbUSE.l
PHILADELPHIA, oct. 23-The pith of the system
of awards has been punched ont by the action Of a
rump of the Centennial Commission in secret scs-
sion 80 that little more than an empty and value
less form is left This may like strong state
mcnt but IT is borne ont by all the facts the public
can get at For six week, a small fraction Of the
Commission, clothed with all the powers Of the
whole body, has been tinkering with the reports OF
the iudges III the interest of unsuccessful exhibitors
and with the aid of a newly constituted group of
Judges on Appeals is preparing supplementary list
of awards Now a good deal can be said in favor Of
making some additional awards Among tens
of thousands of articles II is probable that
some NAV have been overlooked, and some palpable
errors NAV have been inadvertently committed by
the judges. Rightly constituted, board Of appeal
judges would seem to be a proper adjunct to sys-
tenn of dealing out hOnOrs at great exhibition The
fault of the Commission Is that in order TO give the
reports of these judges the same weight as those of
the regular Judges and 10 cover upthcr own tinker
ing with the regular reports, they have at one blow
broken up the whole carefully devised and admira-
BILE system of signed reports, bearing the names and
them The very meat and marrow Of the system
adopted for the Centennial was that in case Of each
award the examining Judge should make a wrttenre
mort stating the merits Of the article for which it
recommended; that Inc should aifix his signature to
tbe report and that the other judges Of the same
proup should add theirs as approving it. Successful
exhibitors were to be furnished with copies Of these
reports with liberty to publish Them The reports,
signed i'm most cases by experts of established Iepu
tation were to be the real prizes not the rumpery
copper medals and paper diplomas.
After the Commission began TO change some OF
the reports at the instance of exhibitors 1t was seen
that it would not do to send out these docored doe
uments TO be dsavowed perhaps by the judges
whose names werc Affixed nor could the sigma
lures Of the regular group judges be placed to sup
Elementary awards which they had no hand in
making it was determined to change the whole
system. The signatures are, therefore, to be sup
pressed all the reports, and the awards are to go
out signed by Director General Goshom and Secre-
tary Campbell instead of by the judges.
If there is any defense to be made of this astonsh
ing alteration at the last moment in the most i'm
portant part of the Exhibition work it ought to be
made promptly. As the matter now stands exhibit
ors have a right to denounce a fraud upon them
the suppression of the signed reports which they
were promised from the outset and which the judges
were instructed to make. When it is added that
this action has been taken in face of the opposition
of Gen. Francis A. Walker, the chief of the Bureau
of Awards and of many of the best men on the Com
mission, it appears in even greater need Of public
defense.
The proper course to have taken, it would seem,
would have been to carry out the original