Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-08-01
TIME HAS COME TO GET
BUSY ABOUT THE BIG FAIR
Il VIII Take Fully Five Years to Develop
the Plans and Garry Them
Out Successfully

"uCu OeyOHu Ine appointment OF commit
tees. 1t must be specded up IL the thing
Is to be put through on time,
Little can be done untf a competent
director is selected. He can bring the tan
gled ends together and get things moving.
The man chosen should be young enough to
stand the work, big enough to imagine
greatly, energetic enough to push the project
through, magnetic enough to communicate
his enthusiasm to others and diplomatic
enough to induce all to work in harmony
toward a single end
One or two men big enough for the job
have been mentioned. but go far as ia known
they have not been approached by any one
with authority to enter into negotiations
with them. This matter can be settled in
August as well as in September. The sooner
II Is done the sooner will the project begin
to take shape.
But before going any further we should
get rid Of the word "sesqui centennial in
our talk of the fair. The college graduates
who have taken a classical course know
what 1t means. but to the great mass Of
people It conveys no more meaning than
"sesquipedalian.
II we talk about the fair as celebrate
Of the 150th anniversary Of the adoption Of
the Declaration Of Independence, let US say
150th anniversary, and then every one will
know what we have In mind.
The Chicagoans did not can The fair IN
1893 the quatro- centennial Of the discovery
Of America, but the Columbian Fair. The
school children knew who Columbus was
and the adults had not forgotten, so there
was universal appreciation Of the event
commemorated.
1t can be called the Independence Fair,
the Philadelphia Fair, the World Fair or
H.. asr .La h,,
1926-but IL does not matter much what
1t is called so long as the name by which
it is to be known is simple and easily un-
derstood.
Then comes the selection Of a site. The
experience of other cities should be helpful
here. Since the famous Centennial Fair,
named so simply that Its significance was
at once evident, there have been great fairs
in Chicago and San Francisco and st.
Louis, to name only three.
These expositions demonstrated the i'm
portance Of having the site accessible from
the heart Of the city. Accessibility, then,
should be the first consideration.
This does not necessarily mean that Il
should be in the heart Of the city, though
an excellent site there has been proposed
But It does mean that the visitors should
not be compelled to take long ride from
their homes or from their hotels before they
can reach the gates.
If the site chosen Is such that consid-
cradle part Of the development Of It can be
in the form of permanent improvements
there will be justification for a more gen
erous appropriation Of money by the city
than IL the improvements were all to be for
the enjoyment Of the public during a single
summer.
No co operation from the National Gov
ernment. from the other States or from
foreign Governments can be expected until
the City Of Philadelphia has guaranteed its
good faith by making a generous appropra-
ton on its own account and until it's cit-
zens have underwritten a considerable part
Of the expense for getting the work started.
The solicitation OF contributions Of $40
from every one is all very we'll in It's way,
but il will take more than SO contributions
to provide an adequate sum.
While these preliminaries are being ar
ranged the campaign Of publicity should be
organized-a campaign which should cover
the whole world, not only for the purpose
of creating that popular sentiment which
will Justify foreign Governments in erecting
buildings on the grounds. but for the pur-
pose of exciting the interest Of the hun
dreds of thousands Of foreigners who will
take advantage of the fair for making a visit
to the United States.
But the city cannot accommodate the
visitors with the present hotel facilities or
with the present housing facilities. 1t Is
not too soon for capitalists to begin TO plan
the erection Of several permanent new hotels
so arranged that. IL conditions do not war
rant their continuance as accommodations
for transIents. they can be turned into
apartment houses or Office buildings.
Only by the most strenuous building cam
paign can the present housing shortage be
removed nv 1925. The city s short more
than 90 900 houses at the present time, and
the normal growth Of the population re-
uuires from 5000 to 1000 new houses every
year
Building costs are coming down, so that
the risk in. building IS disappearing. And
the city Is growing at such a rate that
there is no danger Of over building for ten
years, even with the impetus OF the coming
fair to spur the operators.
Intelligent attention also must be given
to the transportation problem. It has two
phases. Wherever the site may, be, 1t will
be necessary to arrange supplementary lines
of some kind Of traffic to get the people to
and from the grounds.
When the site is selected II will appear
whether surface, elevated or subway lines
will be best for the electric cars and
whether motorbusses or trackless trolley cars
can be used to advantage.
While the matter Of local transportation
Is important. that of transportation be.
tween this city and the rest of the world
should not be overlooked
There Is time to make arrangements for
direct steamship connection between the
piers on the Delaware River and the Pacific
ports Of the United States and for similar
service between Philadelphia and the great
ports Of Europe. II fate had conspired to
provide an opportunity for bringing the ad-
vantages Of this port to the attention of the
other nations it could not have arranged
it better.
All that Is necessary Is for the wide awake
Phladephiaps to rise to their opportunity
to bring shipping here The foreign ex-
hibits can be landed directly at our piers
and the foreign passengers can be brought
to the city of the fair without having to
take railroad journey.