The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-03-09
STATE AND CONGRESS.
Matters Of Interest to One or
the Other.
PUBLIC BUILDING PROSPECT.

IAs Afval C1aanaats Ter sAs worlds
Fair-spseinea % Representative
Wilssa's Elosusacs.
WAsxxsros Crry. March A-In the
struggle for the Worlds fair Chicago won
first blood, and until the lsgislation il al
enacted. which provides for putting an ex-
hibition by the government at Chicago in
lSZ. appoints commissioners 70 take
charge OF the great undertaking and ap-
propriates the money for the governments
expense in showing mp its wares, the enc
mics OF Chicago viii keep insisting that il
i no sure thing there viii Be- any fair anv
where There was good deal OF battle
TO be fought when the House had decided
on Chicago ~ the proper place to hold the
fair. That action simply put In the word
Chicago in the blank spaces left in the
House bill which authorized the undertak-
ing.
New York men, or at any rata the lead
ers. protested to take their medicine grace
fully and promised to take hold and help
make the fair . success There is no
doubt that some of them would be
glad to see the whole thing killed.
IL Is possible to do this. Ii
. bill making the necessary
appropriations cannot be agreed on by
both House and Senate, and il the other
little legislative details should not be ad-
lusted 70 the satisfaction Of both houses.
then it Is goodbye to the fair. Those
who favored Washington Is q site were
open in their expressions of hope that the
entire enterprise would die before 1t got
outside Of the capitol. They took high
and lofty plano that it should be national
affair. II . national affair, then it should,
Of course, BE- held 1T the nations capital.
They predict that anything that Is not
backed by the government will b failure
"A sort of Chicago exposition with the big
element OF being backed by the nation left
out of IL
Many of the residents of the capital city
profess TO believe that this should be- . ma
tional affair, and u the same time about
all the interest they have in it comes from
the fact that they own clearinghouse in
this city. They are in for what they can
make. They have been SHINING visitors
to the city Ill their lives, and they thought
the fair would give them .
chance to do . wholesale job ct
the same sort Of thing. They went
% far ~ to think that the government
ought to back them in this enterprise.
Now that the prize ID gone they are loud
in their talk that Chicago il going 70 have
fair Of it, own, and they say .Let Chi
cago do it. The government will not back
her. Let her have fair, it won't amount
to much"
This sort Of talk comes from . class OF
people Who have very little idea Of the
magnitude Of that part Of the country
which lies west Of the Alieghanies. Il
comsa from . considerable class that never
has had IL duly impressed on them that
the West" 10 really the big and OF the
country. They have lived In this city since
the war. They believe that Indians are
still in possession of the greater portion of
the land west Of the Mississippi They
think Chicago il frontier town, with lots
OF bras and buster and little to show for
il, and as for anything further west,
across the prairies and the rockies, they
have an idea that IL is about q civilized Is
Alaska or southern Africa. They do not
know the modern history Of this country.
But they are going TO wake mp. The So
lection OF Chicago as the site for the
Worlds fair has called their attention to
the fact that the West stands for some
thing. They are rubbing their eyes-these
Washington clearinghouse keepers-and
hunting up their Biographies to find out
what it was that shut them out of their
favorite pastime OF entertaining at exorbi-
tant prices visitors who ara drawn here by
enterprises for which the governments foots
the bills.
The selection OF Chicago Is advertising
the West to the East Is nothing has done
since the Mississippi river was discovered.
1t viii be good thing for the far West
for the entire coast states A Western
man told me today that the transconti-
mental roads had already had under con-
temptation . great system OF excursion
rates from Chicago TO the Pacifc-making
such attractive rates that they could
not fail to draw the visitors to
the fair straightaway across the continent.
tapped by the Northern. the Central and
the Southern lines, could hardly be esti-
mated. Not only would the people OF
other countries visit the far West, but the
Eastern .olks who have never been west OF
Tue DIEafo iinc NOuiu AvAi tucluSeitcS Oh
the opportunity.
There are influences ut work here to Sc
cure q general opening OF the Indian res
ervstiens in the country, giving the red
men their lands in severAlty and throwing
open TO settlement the balance of the
lands. In addition TO = memorial from
the state OF Washington asking that the
Colville reservation be opened, a bin CALI
ing for . com mission to negotiate with the
Indians has been introduced by Senator
Allen. The same thing has been urged at
the interior department by several citizens
OF Washington state. among them IL. H.
Randall and Mr.. Kavanaagh.
IL is shown that there are 500 900 acres
Of land there, which Is an average Of 5. 400
acres to each adult Indian. Some Of il 10
valuable for timber, some for mining pur.
poses and some Is said to be worthless.
Senator Squire has reports from the land
Offices of the country which show that the
business transacted 1t the Seattle land Office
last year Vas larger than Ut any other In
the United States. In all. over 5000
acres were entered. and in some seasons OF
The year the fees were 5000 day.
Senator eq1ire is putting In . good deal
Of time with the supervising architect OF
The treasnry in an effort 20 adjast the pub
be building question In Washington. Of
which mention has been made IN the Posi-