Omaha daily bee., 1898-05-29
THE PRESS AND THE EXPOSITION
Mr.. p~osewnter's speech Mt the Annual
B~nn0uet of the Associated Press.


oficial stenogrophic report Of the annual
banquet OF the Associated Press held at
Chicago, May Is:
"Mr. Rosewater was enthusiastically re-
ceived as he rose in his place and spoke
as follows:
Mr.. Toastmaster and Gentlemen Of the
Press: In projecting me to the very front
Of this entertainment, | take It that the
POSTMASTER has been actuated by about
the same motive that prompted the prince
of American showmen, =. T. Barnum, al
ways to send his little elephant in the front
when he was going to cross a river, in or
der to test the ice. Uaughter.) And be-
fore proceeding, l desire to register a most
solemn protest. in the presence OF this au-
gust assembly, against the slight put upon
myself by the Poet Lariat"-the poet OF
this association-in emitting any reference
whatever to altar of rose or any other per-
tune, which the POSTMASTER has referred
TO, and | most sincerely regret that these
winsome. bewitching witches (great laugh
teri have made not even the faintest ailu-
sion to Bees and Honey.
Now passing from the ridiculous to the
sublime. i want to rivet your attention
ON this picture (picture OF Omaha Exposi-
ton held up at his side), and then / &ant
also to rivet your attention on n few salient
points.
ut is within the memory of many men
still in their prime, when Chicago and
st. Louis were outposts of American from
tier civilization. At the Golden Jubilee.
held in San Francisco in January last. there
were men present who had braved the
perils and endured the hardships of a six
months passage by sailing vessel from New
YORK or Boston to San Francisco by the way
or Cape Horn. There was also men pres
ent who had imperiled their lives in cross
ing the great plains on a prairie schooner,
when those plains were peopled with saw
ages, and In climbing the granite ribbed
Sierras and leaving between themselves and
white men and civilization more than a
thousand miles Of alkali desert. Now. YOU
VIII remember. those of you who look back.
ana not a very long while back either. that
the most rapid communication between Chi
cago and San Francisco was by pony ex-
press connecting will the overland stage.
The building of the Pacific Telegraph was
regarded as a marvellous achievement. That
was only four years before Cyrus w. Field
nad completed communication between
America and all Europe through the laying
OF the Atlantic cable. When the golden
spike was driven in 1869, and the iron band
was welded which united all the states of
this union between the Atlantic and the
Pacific coast, this people witnessed the be-
ginning of the most marvellous era of prog
ress that has ever taken place in the worlds
history.
From that progress has sprung an en-
pire west of the Mississippi river. Where
there was not a mile of railroad when
crossed the Missouri river in
1863, today we have ar M,
miles of railways-we have six trans
continental lines-we have a country that
has a greater population than the nation
had at the beginning of the civil war. 1t
is for the purpose of illustrating, by a
striking object lesson, the great progress |
that has been made by the western half of |
this continent that the Transmississippi and
international Exposition was projected and
will be inaugurated on the LIST day of June,
two weeks from this date. |
THE Chicago Worlds fair was a marvel
In itself. 1t had at its disposal something
like $780, 0O, 900. 5000, OO0 of which were
placed to its credit by the national govern
ment, and SIS, 900, 900 more raised light here
by loan. We, of the city of Omaha, started
out in the face of the most depressing times,
In the face of two consecutive drouth years,
and organized an association by private
capital that has been enabled within the
space of eighteen months to produce at least
what l would call a miniature Chicago
Worlds fair, that will not be second to any
fair that has ever been held in this coun-
try. (Applause.) In that exposition, thirty
eight states and three territories will be of
fcially represented and will participate. !
Every state in the trans
mississippi region, from Louis !
lana and Texas clear to Oregon and Wash
ingtcn, will be there by its representa-
tives and by its products. And while at
Chicago American products were overshad- |
owed by the foreign exhibit, at Omaha the
American products will be the paramount
and most attractive feature. 1t will illus
trate what can be done and what the posi-
bilities Of that western country are, when
you take the men of pluck and Drawn and
brain that people the country west of the
Mississippi. (Applause.) These people, of
course, represent all classes, from Massa-
chusetts and every state in New England,
from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana, yes,
from every state in the union men have
come across the Mississippi river and built
up villages and cities and In that great ex-
position their industry and thrift will be
an object lesson to all who may come.
'While it is true that the war is de-
tracing from this exposition more or less,
and while it is true that the press at the
present time at least is monopolized almost
exclusively by war news, yet it is to the
press that we are largely indebted for what
progress we have made up to date, and to
the press we must look for whatever sue
cess we may achieve. AS one of the man
ayers of that exposition, ! desire to ex-
press my grateful appreciation to every
member Of the press here for the recognition
that they have given to this great enter
prise. 1t has been of course not a project
advertised for money, but just because the
press comprehends the magnitude of the
task and realizes that we are laboring to
promote the development and welfare of the
whole United States.
~ is not simply al Omaha affair. 1t is
an exposition that represents American en-
terprise and industry as broad as the land