2 THE HISTORY OF THE CONGRESS 



Yet it was not till the Paris Exposition of 1889 that the idea of 

 a series of congresses, international in membership and universal in 

 scope, was fully developed. The three preceding expositions, Paris, 

 1878, Philadelphia, 1876, and Vienna, 1873, had held under their 

 auspices many conferences and congresses, and indeed the germ of 

 the congress idea may be said to have been the establishment of the 

 International Scientific Commission in connection with the Paris 

 Exposition of 1867; but all of these meetings were unrelated and 

 sometimes almost accidental in their organization, although many 

 were of great scientific interest and value. 



The success of the series of seventy congresses in Paris in 1889 

 led the authorities of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 

 to establish the World's Congress Auxiliary designed "to supple- 

 ment the exhibit of material progress by the Exposition, by a por- 

 trayal of the wonderful achievements of the new age in science, 

 literature, education, government, jurisprudence, morals, charity, 

 religion, and other departments of human activity, as the most 

 effective means of increasing the fraternity, progress, prosperity, 

 and peace of mankind." The widespread interest in this series of 

 meetings is a matter easily within recollection, but they were in 

 no wise interrelated to each other, nor more than ordinarily com- 

 prehensive in their scope. 



It remained for the Paris Exposition of 1900 to bring to a perfect 

 organization this type of congress development. By ministerial 

 decree issued two years prior to the exposition the conduct of the 

 department was set forth to the minutest detail. One hundred 

 twenty-five congresses, each with its separate secretary and organiz- 

 ing committee, were authorized and grouped under twelve sections 

 corresponding closely to the exhibit classification. The principal 

 delegate, M. Gariel, reported to a special commission, which was 

 directly responsible to the government. The department was ad- 

 mirably conducted and reached as high a degree of success as a highly 

 diversified, ably administered, but unrelated system of international 

 conferences could. And yet the attendance on a majority of these 

 congresses was disappointing, and in many there was scarcely any 

 one present outside the immediate circle of those concerned in its 

 development. If this condition could prevail in Paris, the home of 

 arts and letters, in the immediate centre of the great constituency 

 of the University and of many scientific circles and learned societies, 

 and within easy traveling distance of other European university 

 and literary centres, it was fair to presume that the usefulness of this 

 class of congress was decreasing. It certainly was safe to assume, 

 on the part of the authorities of the St. Louis Exposition of 1904, 

 that such a series could not be a success in that city, owing to its 

 geographical position and the limited number of university and 



