CONGRESS (COLUMBIAN KM'" ITIOJI.) 



197 



. That nothing contained in this act ahall be 



,1 ti> ,-ujM r-i ,U nr in any murmur alter or im- 



fotve or validity of the provision* ..I' M-i-timi 



in act of Congress approved April 25, A. v. 



In cri! u-ism of the measure, Mr. Bailey, of 



-aid 



.Mr. Chairman, (lie passage of this bill lixi-s 

 , -ettled and permanent policy of the Fed- 

 eral <io\ eminent to extend aid in projecting and 

 encouraging enterprises like the World's Col um- 

 luan Kxpi.Miion. I '. fore we take that final step, 

 sir, it may be well to review the progress of this 

 i.i.a. for 'never hereafter will it be seriously de- 

 bated in tin- American Congress whether we 

 havi- (he power or whether it is wise to make 

 appropriations like this; but hereafter it will be 

 merely a contention over the amount a calcula- 

 tion tit only for the countingroom. 



11 The first exposition of this kind was held in 

 1851, in the great city of New York. But no- 

 where in the records of Congress can it be found 

 that they implored a dollar's aid from the Fed- 

 eral Government, and certainly it can not be 

 found in the statutes that they received a single 

 dollar. 



"Sixteen years ago, for the first time in our 

 history, Congress committed the Government to 

 aid an exposition. As the one hundredth anni- 

 versary of our independence approached, patri- 

 otic men conceived the idea of its celebration. 

 In !s?l they came to Congress and asked the 

 enactment of a law merely authorizing the Pres- 

 ident to invite foreign nations to participate in 

 that celebration. In 1874 they came back and 

 asked the incorporation of the Centennial Com- 

 pany, and (he law which incorporated it dis- 

 tinctly disclaimed the purpose of the Federal 

 Government to commit itself to the appropriat ion 

 of a single dollar. In 1876 they came back im- 

 ploring Congress to save them from the disgrace 

 of a failure, declaring that the law which au- 

 thorized the invitations to be extended to foreign 

 nations committed the Government by honor- 

 aide engagement to make it a success. Mr. 

 U-andall. who. though a Representative from the 

 city of Philadelphia, had stood for five years re- 

 sist inir the idea that the Federal Government 

 should use the public moneys for such a purpose, 

 finally yielded, and he yielded distinctly upon 

 t he ground that not again in one hundred years 

 cuuld such a demand be made. 



" Kight years afterward they were here from 

 New Orleans, and again the Congress appro- 

 priated public money for a purpose in no wise 

 connected with the Government's service; and 

 though they said in the beginning that not once 

 in a hundred years could the request be repeated, 

 yet in sixteen y-ar> we are confronted for a third 

 lime with a demand of this kind, and this time 

 the demand i> for well-nigh twice as much as 



ever before. 



" Now, Mr. Chairman. I submit to the thought- 

 ful consideration of members, that if they teach 

 the people that public money? can be used to 

 provide entertainment for the rich and prosper- 

 ous, you can not deny bread to the poor and 

 hungry and outlive their wrath. You inculcate 

 a li'-Min which the men who set the example will 

 be the tir>t to repent. 



"And this, sir, is to be done in the name of 



Erogress. Mr. chairman, I believe in progress; 

 ut, us I read the hi-tnrv of my race, man has 

 achieved his in-st. his highest, his most enduring 

 progress when the Government has made him 

 free and left him to work out his own destiny 

 in his own good way. I have no sympathy, sir, 

 with this modern and dangerous taMMMf that 

 subjects not only the business, but even the en- 

 tertainment of our people, to legislative aid and 

 legislative interference. It teaches a baneful 

 leon. and it will ultimately bring the people 

 to believe that it is the duty of the Government 

 to support them, instead of their duty to support 

 the Government." 



In defense of the measure, Mr. Reilly,of Penn- 

 sylvania, said : 



"Let me briefly review the history of this 

 enterprise. The propriety of celebrating the 

 four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of 

 America by Columbus suggested itself to the 

 minds of American people and met with a favor- 

 able response. For several years past it has been 

 earnestly advocated and agitated, and during 

 the past several Congresses innumerable pet it ions 

 from all parts of the country were presented to 

 both Houses of Congress favoring such celebra- 

 tion in the form of a grand national and inter- 

 national exposition. The subject attained such 

 magnitude, and the sentiment of the people was 

 so pronounced and universal in favor of it, that 

 in the Fifty-first Congress it was deemed a sub- 

 ject of sufficient importance to justify the ap- 

 pointment of a select committee, to which should 

 be referred for consideration and action all mat- 

 ters touching the subject. 



" The matter was considered by Congress in 

 all its phases, and as the result of its-judgment 

 we have the act of April 25, 1890. inaugurating 

 (his great exposition. It will be borne in mind 

 that in this respect this affair differs from any 

 other in that it was originally inaugurated, cre- 

 ated, established, by direct, positive action of 

 Congress. Its action has provided for the hold- 

 ing, conducting, and carrying on of this exposi- 

 tion in all its details, and is the supreme, o n 

 trolling power over it to-day. Congress deter- 

 mined where this exposition should be held, 

 when it should be held, the time it should open, 

 the time it should close, and how it should be 

 conducted. Congress provided all the agencies 

 and instrumentalities necessary to carry out its 

 will. 



"It seems to me. Mr. Chairman, that a mere 

 perusal of this act is in itself sufficient to carry 

 conviction to i.ny fair mind upon this qtMttiOB. 

 In the preamble it is declared : 



J!7/nw, It is fitly appropriate that the four hun- 

 dredth anniversary of the discovery of America bo 

 commemorated by an exhibition of the mom 



the Tinted State* Of America, their development, and 

 the progress of civilization in the New World; ami 



\Yh, /V.M. Such an exhibition should be of a national 

 and international character, so that not only the people 

 of our Union and this continent but thote Of Ml na- 

 tions as well can participate, und should then 

 have the sanction of the Congress of the UDttM 

 States: Therefore. . 



/,', it , //r/.-/r</. etc.. That an exhibition of arte,m< 



namifiu-turett, and products of the soil, mine, 

 and sea. shall be inaugurated in the year 189:2, in tho 

 cin of Chicago, in the State of Illinois, a* hervmafU-r 

 provided. 



