Evening star., 1898-12-10
The PARIS EXPOSITION
Commissioner Peck Tells Of Consideration
Extended to Him.

At a banquet given in his honor iu 'h.ca-
go Thursday night Ferdinand w. Peck told
of his success as United States commits
sioner general to the Paris exposition Mr.
Peck said. in part:
We have been To a foreign land upon a
mission of national Importance W have
met with "A most cordial reception In every
quarter from officials and from American
and foreign citizens in private lie. Re
spect for our ration has caused th" repre-
sentattves Of the French government and
of the exposition to accord To III" United
States commissioner every consideration
and courtesy. social and otherwise.
"Th,, great event in Paris AT the opening
of tho next century viii on a scale Of
maEuiticence far beyond any Of it, prcde-
ceSsors: and. though we have succeeded IN
obtaining our fair proportion Of exhibit
space FOR Tie American section, consider
ing our distance from France rs compared
with other nations. yet our allotment IL
grossly inadequate: and those iu,rusted
with the responsibI ty must MAKE serious
struggle for a policy Of most careful seloc-
lion and extreme condensation. This must
ho our constant effort. There are eighteen
groups comprising l3n classes. H. " ri n pc
vision il made lor every kind of art, indus
Try and manufactures. In order To secure
the greatest efficiency. we VIII CoDdops"
these groups ana classes so that aroui ten
great exhibit departments VIII cover III, Ill
tire situation. and We Will rndeTNor To- So
iect director for each who VIII hc entire
ly fitted and eminent the field 10 which
he il assigned. This policy is consistent
with the theory of the act of Congress iu
concentrating responsibility.
Compared With Columbian EApo-i-
tion.
since our return from Paris We have
been asked on all sides to compare the
coming exposition Of 1880 with our Colum-
bian exposition Of 1sa2. Ia few words.
our exposition covered 40 acres. mat II
Paris aG6, our great natural advantages
are wanting in Paris. There is "o Lake
Michigan; there are no beautiful .agoons:
the territory is restricted. There is Hp ~'.-h
SUPERB grouping OF buildings. and Ih" grand
ensemble effect OF the Nhitc city with is
surroundings will be lacking. Eut The Paris
exposition will be essentially an exposition
Of exhibits; ard in its accessibility -heiug
i'll the heart Of the city-lp itS display pf
selected exhibits, in its array of many
unique things that have devel"uca iu 'he
progress Of the world since ISsi. liza lis dis
play of the fire arts and the products ~
nifty foreign nations with which oHr people
are comparatively unfamiliar. 5, viii prove
on the whole fully as attractive TO the MIA
jCIiIy Of Anne ric8rS as our wonderful t"-
lumbian exposition. and perhaps 20 many
even more SO The buildings VIII he WhL'e
most aTt.S'ic ic and beautiful. and lhe greater
portion of them 1reprocf ana prr-nanenr.
Now a word about what has Hnen d.
ready done toward making the f..aiirD 81
the 'nitci States to The Paris eNnrSft ftiuu a.
Creditable one. You have been Informed
by jhe official report made To IN, President
and transmitted To Congress and 10y The
public press, that We have in our recent
mission abroad been able to add largely 20
our exhibit areas and have secured sites
for certain buildings. success mainly due
To the respect which our nation and our
flag now command.
when we reached Paris We needed ter
rtolE. We demanded II and were r,fu~rd,
We waited and worked for Weeks without
apparent progress until the opportunity
came. II presented Itself in thu arrival
from the United States OF Ambassador
Cambou. and a dinner given m our hoaor
lay the American chamber of commerce.
The friendly and potent aid of the former
,tnd the opportunity afforded 1t the latter
were the main facts that secured the prjz..
some Telling Statistics.
AT this dinner We endeavorcd to exploit
the Importance of our country by present
ing statistics that could not have been IS
effectively used under other circumstances.
The officials of the French republic and Of
the exposition We're informed in presence
of the American and French ambassadors
and 2nn sympathetic American citizens that
our population was nearly 10000 .upJ. the
value Of the manufactures Of the United
States amounted to 81 per cent or over one
third of the total value of the manufactured
products of the world; thai agricul-
of those of all countries combined. that in
railroad transportation the mileage Of the
United States exceeded that of the whole
of Europe; that our mines produce more
than those of any nation on earth as much
indeed. as those of all Europe and that
there is a steady export trade Of pig iron
to Germany and of iron ore to England.
that the wealth OF the United States
amounts nearly to fU9. .UOD eOa 900 francs or
twice that of France. equal to thar Of Rus
sia. Austria. Italy and Spain combined and
- per cent more than that of Grea, Britain
We q 50 told them that the space allotted
to France at the Columbian exposition was
about =" per cent of the total area assigned
to foreign nations. while the a. % meat made
10 the United States at the Paris exposition
was only about 10 per cent Of the rrSerya-
lion for foreign countries
'"rhcse ana many other facts Indicating
the imporl ance of our nation and the basis
of our demands at their exposition were
laid before them The French press pub
liShed the startling figures presented and
they We're known throughout Europe.
Within forty-eight hours after this ban
quet the French government officially re
queSted the exposition authorities 70 con-
cede 10 the United States the demands We
had made far possible. Ii was
the greatness of our country that secured
the results achieved. thus increasing our
exhibit area over 40 per cent.
reriod OF Expansion.
This is a period of national expansion.
The booming of the guns of Admiral Dewey
have reverberated around the earth and
awakened all Christendom to the fact that
the great American republic now reaches
across the globe and that the nation of the
new century is rising on this side Of the
Atlantic. Therefore the approach hing peace
festival in Paris is most opportune en-
abling il win our artisans our manu-
facturers and our producers to place the
resources and wares of our nation before
the eyes of the world which are now riye.-
ed upon US. and thus keep step with or
geogra phical expansion.
The industrial and commercial interests
of our entire country from ocean TO ocean
must, without fear or favor have euual
rights and equal representation al the great
forthcoming exposition of 1900 that viii
commemorate the passing and beginning
of century"
What He Needed.