196 



CONGRESS. (COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.) 



no power. But we have had first one evasion 

 and then another ; we have had delays and mis- 

 understandings. But no Canadian is harmed 

 thereby." 



The measure passed the House without a divis- 

 ion, passed the Senate next day in the same 

 manner, and was approved by the President. 



Columbian Exposition. One of the per- 

 plexing questions before Congress was the grant 

 of aid to the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. 

 There were in the way of such a grant the doubt 

 as to its constitutionality, the pledges made in 

 behalf of Chicago not to ask aid if named as the 

 city in which the exposition should be held, and 

 these resolutions of the House in favor of strict 

 economy passed at the opening of the session : 



Resolved, That, in the judgment of this House, the 

 granting of subsidies or bounties by Congress, in 

 money, public lands, bonds, or by indorsement, or by 

 pledge of the public credit, to promote special private 

 industries or enterprises of corporations, independent 

 of the question ot the constitutional power of Con- 

 gress to make such grants, is unjust and impolitic, 

 and in manifest conflict with the .spirit of our repub- 

 lican institutions, as it directly tends to create and 

 foster the wealth of favored classes at the expense of 

 the whole people who bear the burdens of govern- 

 ment, and manifestly furnishes undue facilities for 

 the enlargement of great private estates a policy 

 which a government of the people can not justly or 

 safely encourage by any form of favoritism in legisla- 

 tion. 



Resolved, In view of the present condition of the 

 Treasury, and because efficient and honest govern- 

 ment can only be assured by the frugal expenditure 

 of the public money, while unnecessary and lavish 

 expenditure, under any and all conditions, leads in- 

 evitably to venal and corrupt methods in public 

 affairs, no money ought to be appropriated by Con- 

 gress from the public Treasury, except such as is 

 manifestly necessary to carry on the several depart- 

 ments, frugally, efficiently, and honestly administered. 



An appropriation of $5,000,000 was asked ; 

 but finally a compromise measure was adopted. 

 It was described as a bill " to aid in carrying 

 out the act of Congress approved April 25, 1890, 

 entitled ' An Act to provide for celebrating the 

 four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of 

 America by Christopher Columbus, by holding 

 an international exposition of arts, industries, 

 manufactures, and products of the soil, mine, 

 and sea, in the city of Chicago, in the State of 

 Illinois, and appropriating money therefor.'" It 

 passed the House Aug. 5, 1892, in the following 

 form : 



Be it enacted, etc., That for the purpose of aiding 

 in defraying the cost of completing in a suitable 

 manner the work of preparation for inaugurating the 

 "World's Columbian Exposition, authorized by the 

 act of Congress approved April 25, A. D. 1890, "to be 

 held at the city of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, 

 there shall be coined at the mints of the United 

 States silver half dollars of the legal weight and fine- 

 ness, not to exceed 5,000,000 pieces, to be known as 

 the Columbian half dollar, struck in commemoration 

 of the World's Columbian Exposition, the devices 

 and designs upon which shall oe prescribed by the 

 .Director of the Mint, with the approval of the Secre- 

 tary of the Treasury; and said silver coins shall be 

 manufactured from uncunvnt subsidiary silver coins 

 now in the Treasury ; and all provisions of law rela- 

 tive to the coinage, 'legal-tender quality, and redemp- 

 tion of the present subsidiary silver coins shall be 

 applicable to the coins issued under this act, and 

 when so recoined there is hereby appropriated from 

 the Treasury the said 5,000,000 of souvenir half dol- 



lars ; and the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized 

 to pay the same to the World's Columbian Exposi- 

 tion, upon estimates and vouchers certified by the 

 E resident of the World's Columbian Exposition, or, in 

 is absence or inability to act, by the vice-president, 

 and by the director-general of the World's Colum- 

 bian Commission, or in his absence or inability to 

 act, by the president thereof, and the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, for labor done, materials furnished, and 

 services performed in prosecuting said work of pre- 

 paring said exposition for opening as provided by 

 said act approved April '25, 1890 ; and all such esti- 

 mates and vouchers snail be made in duplicate, one to 

 bo filed with the Secretary of the Treasury, the other 

 to be retained by the World's Columbian Exposition 

 Provided, however, That before the Secretary of the 

 Treasury shall pay to the World's Columbian Expo- 

 sition any part of the said 5,000,000 silver coins, satis- 

 factory evidence shall be furnished him showing that 

 the sum of at least $10,000,000 has been collected and 

 disbursed as required by said act; And provided, 

 That the said World's Columbian Exposition shall 

 furnish a satisfactory guarantee to the Secretary of the 

 Treasury that any further sum actually necessary to 

 complete the work of said exposition to the opening 

 thereof has been or will be provided by said World's 

 Columbian Exposition; but nothing herein shall be 

 so construed as to delay or postpone the preparation 

 of the souvenir coins hereinbefore provided for. And 

 there is hereby appropriated, out of any moneys in 

 the Treasury not otherwise appropriateu, the sum of 

 $50,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to 

 reimburse the Treasury for loss on the recoinage 

 herein authorized. 



SEC. 2. That the appropriation provided in section 

 1 of this act shall be upon condition that the said 

 World's Columbian Exposition maintain and pay all 

 the expenses, costs, and charges of the great depart- 

 ments organized for the purpose of conducting the 

 work of the exposition, said expenses, costs, and 

 charges to be paid out of the funds of the said 

 World's Columbian Exposition. 



SEC. 3. That 50,000 bronze medals and the neces- 

 sary dies therefor, with appropriate devices, emblems, 

 and inscriptions commemorative of said exposition 

 celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of the 

 discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, shall 

 be. prepared under the supervision of the Secretary of 

 the Treasury, at a cost not to exceed $60,000; and the 

 Bureau of Engraving and Printing, under the super- 

 vision of the Secretary of the Treasury, shall prepare 

 plates and make therefrom 50,000 vellum impressions 

 for diplomas, at a cost not to exceed $43,000. Said 

 medals and diplomas shall be delivered to the 

 World's Columbian Commission, to be awarded to 

 exhibitors in accordance with the provisions of said 

 act of Congress approved April 25, 1890 ; and there is 

 hereby appropriated, from any moneys in the Treas- 

 ury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $103,000, 

 or so much thereof as may be Accessary, to pay the 

 expenditures authorized by this section ; and author- 

 ity may be granted by the Secretary of the Treasury 

 to the holder of a medal, properly awarded to him, to 

 have duplicates thereof made at any of the mints of 

 the United States from gold, or silver, or bronze, at 

 the expense of the person desiring the same. 



SEC. 4. That it is hereby declared that all appro- 

 priations herein made for or pertaining to the 

 World's Columbian Exposition are made upon the 

 condition that the said exposition shall not be 

 opened to the public on the first day of the week, 

 commonly called Sunday ; and if the said appropria- 

 tions be accepted by th'e corporation of the State of 

 Illinois, known as the World's Columbian Exposition, 

 upon that condition it shall be, and it is hereby, made 

 the duty of the World's Columbian Commission, 

 created by the act of Congress of April 25, 1890, to 

 make such rules or modification of the rules of said 

 corporation as shall require the closing of the expo- 

 sition on the said first day o:f the week, commonly 

 called Sunday. 



