THE HISTORY OF THE CONGRESS 



BY HOWARD J. ROGERS A.M., LL.D. 



THE forces which bring to a common point the thousandfold energies 

 of a universal exposition can best promote an international congress 

 of ideas. Under national patronage and under the spur of interna- 

 tional competition the best products and the latest inventions of 

 man in science, in literature, and in art are grouped together in orderly 

 classification. Whether the motive underlying the exhibits be the 

 promotion of commerce and trade, or whether it be individual 

 ambition, or whether it be national pride and loyalty, the resultant 

 is the same. The space within the boundaries of the exposition is 

 a forum of the nations where equal rights are guaranteed to every 

 representative from any quarter of the globe, and where the sover- 

 eignty of each nation is recognized whenever its flag floats over a 

 national pavilion or an exhibit area. The productive genius of every 

 governed people contends in peaceful rivalry for world recognition, 

 and the exposition becomes an international clearing-house for 

 practical ideas. 



For the demonstration of the value of these products men thor- 

 oughly skilled in their development and use are sent by the various 

 exhibitors. The exposition by the logic of its creation thus gathers 

 to itself the expert representatives of every art and industry. For 

 at least two months in the exposition period there are present the 

 members of the international jury of awards, selected specially by 

 the different governments for their thorough knowledge, theoretical 

 and practical, of the departments to which they are assigned, and 

 selected further for their ability to impress upon others the correct- 

 ness of their views. The renown of a universal exposition brings, as 

 visitors, students and investigators bent upon the solution of prob- 

 lems and anxious to know the latest contributions to the facts and 

 the theories which underlie every phase of the world's development. 



The material therefore is ready at hand with which to construct 

 the framework of a conference of parts, or a congress of the whole 

 of any subject. It was a natural and logical step to accompany the 

 study of the exhibits with a debate on their excellence, an analysis 

 of their growth, and an argument for their future. Hence the con- 

 gress. The exposition and the congress are correlative terms. The 

 former concentres the visible products of the brain and hand of man; 

 the congress is the literary embodiment of its activities. 



