Birmingham state herald., 1896-05-27
DON'T LAY T ON CHICAGO If the Southern States ExpoSi-
 ton Is a Failure, SAYS HON. PATRICK WALSH Has Tennessee a Fine Italian Hand PA Meet ing of the Advisory Committee at
 Augusta Today k
AVS HON. PATRICK WALSH


 Augusta, Ga, May 26.-To the People of the South: On account of the great i'm terest manifested in the reported post ponement of the Southern States exposi- ton of Chicago, and in response to nu- merous telegrams, I make the following statement:
 The announcement of the postponement of the Southern States exposition al Chicago, on account uof the Tennesses Centennial, was totally unauthorized by the advisory board. Neither the chair man nor the secretary of the board au- thorized any such statement The dis patch sent out from Chicago last night by the Associated Press that the secre- tary of the board at Augusta made such a proposition in the interest of the Ten nessee Centennial is wholly unfounded Before my departure for Washington last week in the interest of the exposi- ton I wrote letter to Maj. J. w. Thom- as, president of the Tennessee Centen- nial, who was until recently the Tennes- see member of the advisory board, depre, eating the inaction of Tennessee. In this letter I informed Major Thomas that If Tennessee was hostile or indifferent to the Southern States exposition I would resign my position as chairman forthT with. The answer to this letter com firmed me in the belief that nothing had been done in Tennessee, and Major Thom- as informed me that 1t would be impos- sible to prepare Tennessee's exhibit in three months.
 I was in Washington when Major Thomas reply to my letter reached Au- gusta. On it's receipt General Manager Deberard and MT. Thomas K. Scott, who has taken an active interest in the expo sition. visited Major Thomas in Nash vile. The result of their visit is briefly c1I la1 i.af I,A +o+ sa.. Thomas went with the Augusta delega- tion before the Tennessee commissioners, advocated the Southern States exposition and agreed to subscribe 5000 to the fund.
 Mr Deberard came on to Washington and explained the situation in Tennessee.
 I returned to Augusta last Wednesday to md that eleven appointments had been made for me in Georgia by President Nes- bitt of the Georgia Exposition company l was not satisfied with the general sit uation, and my appointments were post poned. On my return from Washington I found an official notice from the chair man of the Chicago committee that the south must have exhibits from nine states. This was the agreement entered into at Chicago. A prominent citizen of Chicago wrote me confdentially that he thought the Chicago management would be satisfied with exhibits from seven states. I could only see in sight exhibits
 
 its from the Southern railway, the Mobile and Ohio and the Georgia railroad. Un- der these circumstances, with notifica- tion from Chicago that the management there would have to be definitely in- formed of the south's action by the 25th I issued call for a meeting of tho south ern advisory committee to be held in Au. gusta on Thursday next. I wired the Ch,. cago management of the Augusta meet ing and invited Chairman Lawrence tC be present or to send delegation, as the meeting was important In response tc this Chairman Lawrence wires today: "rhe committee deem 1t unnecessary to be represented on Thursday. Have written"
 I have not been officially informed oi the postponement of the exposition by the Chicago company. If the Southern exposition Is failure 1t would be a per version of the truth to place the blame on the merchants of Chicago, who have | made the most public-spirited and libera offer ever made to advertise the products and resources of the south. If the pro posed Southern exposition fails let u: | place the responsibility where 1t belongs -on the citizens of the states who have | failed to avail themselves of Chcago's unexampled opportunity to advertise the | varied products and unrivalled natura bounties of the southern states.
 I have given three months time to tht | Southern States exposition of Chicago and I feel that the work has not been il vain. PATRICK WALSH, Chairman.