The chairman then thanked the members of the board for the sympathy and help they had given her.
In reply the secretary extended to Mrs. Buchwalter the sincere thanks of the members of the board for the efficient work she had performed as their first vice-president and honorable chairman, and Miss Dawes spoke for the entire board in expressing her thanks to Mrs. Buchwalter for her impartiality, confidence, good management, and elegance in presiding.
Mrs. Daniel Manning, the newly elected president, then took the chair and thanked the board for the honor conferred upon her.
The order of business was then proceeded with, and, pursuant to a wish expressed by the National Commission to meet the board of lady managers, the members of the Commission were announced and Mrs. Manning said:
Mr. President, and Gentlemen of the Commission: We understood that you would graciously come over and talk with us a little while. We are starting in on a new lease of life. We want to work for the exposition to the best of our ability. We want your advice and wish to consult you about a number of matters, but, first, we would like to hear from you.
President Carter responded as follows:
Madam President and Ladies: We have come to say a few words to you and to have you consult with us upon any subjects you desire to bring up. I do not know how graciously we have come, but we come very cheerfully. The subject of your remark has been under consideration for a long time and we all regret that a more definite conclusion has not been reached relative to the sphere of your activity in connection with the World's Fair. I think your report, the report of your committee, of which Mrs. Montgomery is chairman, and which she recently submitted, crystallizes into close compass about the line of action the board might appropriately pursue. The report referred to dealt not only with the conclusion reached, but the details whereby those conclusions were reached. It included discussions, formal and informal, and certain correspondence relating to the subject. The Commission has approved that report in so far as it prescribed in definite form the sphere of your work, and, with the approval of the Commission, that report has been forwarded to the local company. These resolutions or statements made by your board, which in your judgment would constitute a proper sphere of action, seem to embody a field sufficiently broad to be worthy of your intentions. It was hoped by the Commission that during the present session of the board, the members of the local company, together with the Commission, would be present for a conference—more informal than formal—which might result in a correct and definite understanding as to just what you were to do, and how you were to do it.
The only conclusion which has been reached is that which gives you a contingent fund, which seems to have been adequate for the meager necessities of the past, but I believe that up to this hour the exact part your board is playing in connection with making this exposition a success, is far too indefinite to be satisfactory to you, and it is certainly not satisfactory to the Commission. Our Commission will adjourn to meet on the 10th of January, and we hope by that time to be in receipt of some communication from the Exposition Company announcing their disposition of the report I have referred to, and the scope of the work of the board of lady managers. Notwithstanding that will be at a very late date, it is well to have it in sight.
The ladies of your board have been engaged without much credit being given to the board or to the ladies themselves, in the work of exploitation. A number of the ladies have done most efficient work in their respective States—and some, in the adjoining States—calling the attention of the people at large, and in some instances the legislative sessions, to the vastness, scope, and policy of the exposition. It is unfortunate that your board does not receive the credit which this line of meritorious effort deserves. In the end, I doubt not, that in the final reports you will be accorded full measure of credit for what you have done individually and collectively. The past has been devoid of results because of a lack of understanding to start with. I think you are now beginning an era more promising than any outlook you have had in the past. I congratulate you upon having reached a condition of harmony within your own organization, which speaks well for the future. The earnestness of this board, the disinterestedness of its members, leading them in the first instance to volunteer their services to this great enterprise, has been an example to the whole country of national devotion, which has been of great advantage to the exposition management; your gratuitous and earnest effort has been a means of making the exposition favorably known throughout this country, at least. Your expenses have been very light—I believe, up to this time, less than $20,000, in the neighborhood of $20,000—which, considering the long distances traveled, and the number of meetings, is a trifling sum in comparison with what has been spent by similar boards of former expositions.
As you are aware, the act of Congress, under which both the Commission and your board find warrant for existence, granted to the local company an appropriation of $5,000,000 for the purposes of giving this exposition. We have probably in moments of inconsiderate feeling been too prone to find fault—I speak of the Commission, not of the ladies—prone to find fault with the people here who have been doing the best they could. There has been a disposition to assume the control, to the exclusion of outside agencies; and this is but natural because it is inseparable—or is in evidence with reference to all official places in our Government—in fact, it has been noticed that a man, who is ordinarily indolent, when placed in power will become very energetic in this respect.