Final Report of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission. Louisiana Purchase Exposition Commission
consideration before there is any pretense to giving them authority to act.
Inasmuch as an infraction of the law has heretofore occurred according to the director of exhibits, I can but request that the names of the jurors who have heretofore been commissioned to act be forwarded for consideration without delay. We are not unmindful that free and full consideration of the names of persons thus empowered to act without full authority will be somewhat embarrassing in view of their having been employed for a considerable length of time before the Commission will have been advised of their designation by the company.
Yours, very respectfully,
Thos. H. CARTER,
President.
Hon. D.R. FRANCIS,
President Exposition Company, Building.
As indicated by correspondence hereinafter set forth, the company did not present the names of jurors to the Commission on or before August 1, and indeed did not advise the Commission of the names of many of the jurors until long after the time had elapsed for the performance of their duties.
After the group juries had performed their duties certain persons, feeling aggrieved by the awards made, undertook to appeal to the Commission for redress. The Commission disclaimed jurisdiction to consider the matter until the awards were submitted to it for approval. Upon inquiry growing out of these attempted appeals, it was ascertained by the Commission that the Exposition Company questioned the right of the Commission to inquire into or in any manner to pass upon the justice or regularity of any award made. The company having submitted certain proposed amendments to the rules and regulations, the Commission undertook by further amendments to settle the question as to the right of the company to refuse to submit awards made to the Commission for its approval, as required by law. The right of the Commission to even inquire into charges of fraud, bribery, or corruption in connection with awards the company steadily denied and never conceded.
In the records of the Commission filed with this report will be found charges under oath against a division chief, alleging that he was a party to negotiations for a bribe of $2,000 to be paid on the awarding of the grand prize to a certain manufactured article, and that when the matter was brought to his attention his only explanation was that he had declined to be the stakeholder or custodian of the money because of possible criticism in case the transaction should become public. This individual was a member of the group jury, a member of the department jury of his department, and a member of the superior jury.
The Commission felt that investigation of such serious charges was absolutely necessary to guarantee the integrity of the awards.
On October 18, 1904, Commissioner Allen, as acting president of the
Commission, set forth the existing status of the case in a letter to
Hon. D.R. Francis, president of the Exposition Company, reading as
follows:
OCTOBER 18, 1904.
SIR: On October 11 the National Commission sent to the local company a communication suggesting certain amendments to an amendment to the rules and regulations governing the system of awards sent us by the Exposition Company. To date we have not received reply to the communication referred to, nor have we heard from your company, excepting a visit from Judge Wilbur F. Boyle, a member of your executive committee, who called on the Commission on Friday, October 14, in relation to this matter.
The amendments suggested by this Commission were to carry into effect the law as we understand it, and what we have been assured was so understood by your company, to wit: That the awards, before becoming final, should be approved by the National Commission. We infer from what was said by you to Mr. Scott, a member of this Commission, and what was said by Judge Boyle to the Commission, that the position of your company is that the approval of the National Commission only refers to the system of making the awards, and not to the awards of the juries. While we do not agree to this contention, we desire to call your attention to what we consider a number of violations of the rules and regulations governing the system of awards, as agreed upon by the local company and the National Commission. In the first place, in paragraph 3 of the special rules and regulations providing for the appointment of jurors and governing the system of making awards, it is set forth "that the nominations for group jurors shall be made not later than August 1, 1904, except that nominations made to fill vacancies may be made at any subsequent time." It is also provided "that nominations of group jurors and alternates, when approved by the president of the Exposition Company, shall be transmitted to the National Commission for the approval of that body." "These nominations, having been considered and confirmed by the authority provided by section 6 of the act of Congress, relating to the approval of the awarding of premiums, the appointment to the international jury shall be made in accordance with section 6 of article 22 of the official rules and regulations of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company."
You will remember that the nominations of group jurors were not made until long after the time specified in the rules and regulations, which left but a brief time to notify the jurors and allow them time to get here to begin the performance of their duties by the 1st of September.
You will doubtless remember that the writer, Mr. Allen, had an interview with you and Mr. Skiff, in which he protested on behalf of the National Commission that no time was given the Commission to investigate the character of qualifications of the jurors thus nominated, and that it was placing in the hands of the chiefs of the different departments the power to fix up juries and make the awards conform to their own wishes, if they desired to do so.
You will also doubtless remember that Mr. Skiff, in your presence, said to Mr. Allen, as he has said to the Commission frequently before and as he assured us he had said to hundreds of exhibitors, that after the action of the group juries these awards would have to pass the department juries, then the superior jury, then the local company, and finally be approved by the National Commission, and that if anything wrong was done by the group juries thus selected ample opportunity would be had to right such wrong. Acting on this assurance the National Commission went ahead and approved such jurors as were sent them for their approval.
Paragraph 4 of said rules and regulations provides that each group jury shall choose its own officers, consisting of a chairman, vice-chairman, and secretary. It came to the knowledge of the Commission that when the group juries were being organized this rule was being violated, and in most, if not all instances, the officers of the group juries were being selected by the chiefs of the departments. We went to see the secretary of the exhibit department, who had charge of the matter of juries in that department, and informed him of this violation of the rules. We were informed by him that he did not know the chiefs had gone to the extent of informing the juries who their officers should be, but that they had been instructed to make suggestions that they might keep the chairmanship of the juries in the hands of the Americans.
We find that a large number of group jurors have been appointed, have participated in making awards, have been paid off, and have gone home without their names ever having been submitted to the National Commission for approval.
We are informed that the course adopted by the chiefs in the organization of the group juries was pursued when it came to the organization of the department juries, and in this way the chiefs, in violation of the rules, have selected the main body of the superior jury. We were also informed that the department juries were instructed to pass the matters that we think would properly belong to that body up to the superior jury; consequently the principal duty performed by the department jury was to enable the chiefs to select two members for the superior jury. We have been informed that the chiefs in some departments have taken it upon themselves to forbid the jurors from considering certain matters that were proper subjects for their consideration.
In paragraph 15 of said rules and regulations it is provided that if for any reason an award is not satisfactory to an exhibitor he may file notice to that effect with the president of the superior jury within three days after the official notification of the award; this notice shall be followed within seven days by a written statement setting forth at length his views as to wherein the award is unjust. We see now that