The Hawaiian gazette., 1910-06-07
.FIGHTING FOR
WORLDS FAIR
San FranCisCo's Tussle in Wash
ington With New
Orleans.
THE PANAMA EXPOSITION
Contest in Which Honolulu Has
Already Declared for
Frisco.
: PANAMA EXPOSITION
By Ernest G. walker.
QMail Special to The Advertiser.J }

NAhhlA A9ptCldi lue AuNeILlSeT.l
WASHINGTON, May 23.-Congress
is having some exceedingly fervid side
contests in the closing weeks of an
unusual session. These contests have
been haring up from time to time quite
unexpectedly and focusing attention
for little from the big events which
have steadily held the boards for the
winter. This week exposition boomers
are again taking possession Of the city
and by all the wiles of men of their
craft trying to commit congress to a
plan for a Panama Canal Exposition
in 1915. The committee on industrial
arts and expositions of the house ex-
poets to settle the matter this week
and, at least, will give exhaustive hear.
ings to the boomers. The rivalry is
chiefly between San Francisco and New
Orleans, neither Of which is asking the
government for any money-oh, no, but
simply for little bit of legislation
designating the city as the official
Panama Canal Exposition City, where
upon the city's public spirited citizens
will do the rest.
The oldsters in Washington know
very well that that is only the prologue
to the play. The time has gone by
when congress can easily be brought
to vote money directly for an exposi-
ton. That plea was worn out long ago
when the leaders in the senate and
house began to cry out, whenever ap.
preparations in aid of expositions were
broached, "Never again.
In these advanced legislative times
the boomers do it another way. They
persuade congress to recognize their
city for some exposition by voting an
appropriation for government exhibit
and also by authorizing invitations to
foreign governments to participate.
That is the entering wedge and before
congress is through with a project of
that kind, it takes some tens of thou
sands of dollars and sometimes hun
dreds of thousands of dollars. The es-
sential thing is to get the government
committed to the exposition and to es.
tablish it's official character
The San Franciscans have already
done some very clever work in advanc-
ing their cause. They have covered
billhoards in the city with their signs
and have whooped it up around the SEN
ate and the house. The New Orleans
boomers did likewise some weeks ago
but they are coming again in force
this week and propose to blanket the
fire of the San Franciscans. The rivalry
has been pretty friendly thus far al
though San Francisco boomers have
been dwelling much upon the fact that
New Orleans had an exposition in 1884
and borrowed million dollars from the
federal government which was never
paid back.
There has been some talk about two
expositions but that is frowned upon
because it is claimed it would be i'm
possible to make two official Panama
Canal expositions a success. Every.
body knows it is difficult enough to
make any one exposition a success and
congress probably will designate but
one city to celebrate the opening Of
the canal. Foreign nations will be ask
ed to send exhibits there and the fed
eral government will have mammoth
exhibit of its own.