The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1910-05-21
The Country and the Exposition.
(By Exposition Publicity Committee

The Country and the Exposition.
(By Exposition Publicity Committee.l
Thoughtful students throughout the
world today are giving profound consid
Grafton to the tendency everywhere ap
parent towards a growing eStrangement
between urban and rural communities
The rapid growth Of the cities and the ex-
acting demands of modern business have
produced conditions which make increas-
ingly difficult that fine old-time intimacy
of fellowship and sympathy which for
merly obtained between city and country,
and we see drifting apart merely be-
cause neither understands the other.
In the plan by which it is proposed to
provide for and operate the great Panama
Canal Exposition that condition is recog-
nized, and genuine effort has been made
to bridge the ever widening chaSm be-
tween city and country, through the
medium of an enterprise which shall, by
the loftiness of the plane upon which it
has been pitched, make powerful ap-
peal to the best that can be found in our
urban and rural citizenship. To that end
the almost unprecedented convention
which met in New Orleans to determine
upon the klan and character OF the ex-
position-the delegates to which were ap-
pointed by Governor Sanders and Mayor
Behrman-was composed, in equal parts,
of the pick and flower of Louisiana Sc
lected from city and country.
s. The board of directors, which has full
control of the preparation Of the enter
Prise and the operation Of the exposition
his composed of fifty seven members from
the city and forty three from the country;
and on the finance committee are four
from the city and three from the country
The sentiment that dominated all was
the desire to bring city and country IN
j timately together in a common effort that
] is big enough to enlist their interests ane
) worthy of their highest and most earnes
! endeavors. And what could be calGu
lated to do this more effectively than t
/ seize advantage of the opportunity WheI
:. the eyes of the whole world shall b.
c centered upon the highest achievement
e of engineering science since the birth o
G the human race, to attract the multitud
S to the continental gateway opening upol
the completed canal?
k An imposing exposition held at Ne'
n Orleans to celebrate that event is tn
a best possible way to link this metropoil
a and the surrounding country indiSsolubl
e with the Panama Canal; to suggest at
e tomically, as it were, New Orleans an
Louisiana to the mind at every mentio
e of the great waterway to the Orien
IF And such an exposition it will be lmpoS
e sible to make successful unless city an
d, country alike feel the burden OF respons
d. bility. realize the Splendor of the oppo
is tunity and become fired with colnme
enthusiasm The burden is one which v
,e shall feel. it is true; but when have f.
e, suits that are worth the while ever bee
to achieved without sacrifice, and who thlnl
lg of sacrifice when there is certainty
m speedy and munificent returns?
d. Never before has the south had the o
st portunity which will be offered to 1t
IN the time of the opening of the Panan
Canal, and that very moment is the tin
or to strike. New Orleans is anxious to p'
H. her full share of the load; indeed she h
ne gladly assumed the privilege of raising
IN million dollars by private subscrlptlo
ed and of paying tax exactly double tn
er proposed for the country districts OF t
en- state. In this she offers to her count
10. friends tangible evidence of her 60
L faith, and earnestly solicits the privile
rs of working hand in hand with them
IT this enterprise which will push the VIII
,eS south further forward in the next ha
7re dozen years than it would be possible
er, do under ordinary conditions in ii