The record-union., 1891-05-16
THE COLUMBIAN EXHIBITION.
Issue Between a Collective and Dis
tributive Exhibit.
William n. Mills Makes q Compre-
hensive Statement on
the Subject

Many inquiries having been made as to
the issue between a collective and dis
trlbutive exhibit by the State of Califor-
MIA at the Worlds Columbian Exposi-
ton, an Interpretation of it was asked of
William III. Mills, Vice-President Of the
State Board of Trade, and one OF the
members of the Executive Committee OF
the California Worlds Fair Association,
who appeared before the joint committee
of the Legislature last winter when the
bill was before it providing for an appro-
priation of $300,OO for State exhibit.
Mr.. Mills reply is as follows:
SAN Francisco, May 13, 1891.
EDS. RECORD UNION: Replying to
your inquiries of the 18th instant, relating
10 the present status of the question
whether the Worlds Fair Commissioners
for the State of California will make at
the Worlds Columbian Exposition in
Chicago in 1893 a collective or a distribu-
tive exhibition Of the products of Cali
fornia, permit me to say that the whole
matter was considered at meeting held
Tuesday evening in the rooms of the
Commission, No. So Flood building, this
city.
That the issue which has arisen may be
clearly understood by the very large
patriotic interest in the exhibition which
California will make at the Worlds Fair
in 1898, permit me to say that the Gov
ernment of the United States inaugurated
the fair by an appropriation of -, 2,0OO,GOO
from the Treasury Of the United States.
1t required, however, that the favor of
having the fair held at any particular To-
cality should be earned by the payment
on the part of the locality at which it was
TO be held the sum Of $l0,OOO,0O0. The
$4,000 600 thus given for the purpose of
having the fair held at Chicago is a part
of the Governmental appropriation. 1t
was the purchase price of a privilege, and
is part of the available funds with
which to make the necessary provisions
Tor holding the fair. The Governors of the
States recommended for each State two
Commissioners, who received their APP
pOintment from the President OF the
United States and the recommendations
and appointments thus made constitute
National Board of Commissioners having
1Ull charge Of the fair and the ultimate
determination of all questions relating to
the expenditure OF the money. There Is
Il local board for the city of Chicago,
whose chief duty has been to secure the
required ten millions of dollars, which
was to be paid tor the privilege of having
the fair held in that city. Thus equipped,
the National Commission has twelve mil
Lions of dollars at its disposal.
Through information vouchsafed to the
California State Commissioners on Tues
dayeYening, 1t IS now apparent that the
National Commissioners Will not aid eX
hibitOrs at the fair, that the So, 900, ,GO0will
be expended in simply preparing place
in which the exhibit can be made, with
the exception, however, that certain fea-
lures intended to be merely attractions,
such as an attempted reconstruction OF
the Tower Of Babel, etc, viii be provided
by the National Commissioners. But in
so far as exhibits intended to illustrate
the advancement of civilization upon the
continent discovered by Columbus are
concerned, the National Commissioners
will leave that matter entirely to individ
ual enterprise.
Let il be further understood that the
people of the United States were invited
10 make the exhibit; that the money ap-
Dropriated from the National Treasury as
well the money raised by the city OF Chi
cago belonged to them. Thus the people
of California had an equal standing
with the people of the world with
respect of their rights as exhibitors.
Nothing done by the Legislature OF Cali
1ornia could add to or impair the right of
the individual exhibitor to appear 8t the
Worlds Columbian Exposition with any
article that the National Commission
might accept as worthy of presentation.
But California made an appropriation for
a SPECIFIC purpose. The Constitution of
the State declared that no money should
Oe drawn from the Treasury tor the ben
eft of any institution not under the eX-
elusive management and control of the
State as a State institution" The institu-
LiOn, therefore, TO be the beneficiary Of
appropriations made out of the Treasury
OF the State must have been instituted by
the State to be State institution. With
this constitutional prohibition before it,
the Legislature appropriated $685. GOO for
The purpose Of constructing buildings and
collecting and maintaining an exhibition
OF the products Of CHGfOTyliG. The clear
implication Of this was a collective ex-
hibition. This is derived from the fact
that the citizens of California as indi-
Vidual exhibitors had equally with the
citizens of other States the right to be-
come exhibitors, and that therefore some
thing different and special was designed
by the Act of our Legislature. Regula-
tiOnS untriendly to separate exhibits were
made by the National Commissioners in
the hope that the appropriations made by
Vhe States would make up for the lack OF
q id extended out of the public appropria-
tio'us available for the purpose Of en-
ouI-aging exhibitors TO make exhibits at
The discussion Tuesday evening de-
veloped disposition on the part Of the
Worlds Fair Commissioners for the
State of California to make an illustrative
State exhibit Of the products of CaliiOr-
MIA in a collective way, that being clearly
tbe legislative intendment. From in
formation received blythe board, it was
also clear that California exhibits in the
general departments would not be want
ING, but that all the space allotted TO Cali
fornia in the various departments would
be applied for and taken by individual
exhibitors in the State and that, there
fore, there was no necessity whatever for
diverting any part of the 100000 from
the purpose to which II had been devoted
by the Act Of The Legislature. As the
case now stands, though not definitely
settled by resolution of the board, it has
become quite clcar TO ali concerned that
she State Commissioners should devote
Lhe 100000 TO the purpose intended by
the Legislature Of the state OF California,
that OF making a State exhibit
The difference between an exhibit made
by the State for the purpose
OF a perfect and symmetrical pre-
sentation of the products Of this State,
illustrative Of its industrial resources,
and an individual exhibit, should be
obvious. In the great departments into
which the exhibition has been divided by
the action of the National Commissioners
she individual exhibitors Of California