“The jurisdiction of these two bodies, as to the details of the work, somewhat embarrassing at the outset, was settled by a compact between them, and they work together harmoniously and effectively. Under this compact fifteen grand departments were determined upon, the heads of which are appointed by the Director General, who is the executive officer of the commission, and all expenses, except the salary of the Director General, are paid by the World’s Columbian Exposition Company.”
In order that the City of Chicago might enjoy the honor conferred upon her by having the Exhibition held there, she was required to furnish an adequate site, acceptable to the National Commission, and $10,000,000 in money, which sum was, in the language of the Acts of Congress, considered necessary and sufficient for the complete preparation for the Exhibition. This obligation the citizens of Chicago met promptly. A suitable site and $10,000,000 were provided, and, on evidence thereof, the President of the United States issued his proclamation, inviting the nations of the earth to participate in the Exhibition. The $10,000,000 was secured, first, by subscriptions to the capital stock of the corporation to the amount of more than $5,000,000, and a municipal appropriation to the City of Chicago of $5,000,000. People of all classes subscribed to the capital stock, from the richest millionaires to the poorest wage-earners, and the entire sum of $5,000,000 was subscribed in a very short time. An additional issue of stock was made, and it also was rapidly taken up, until the popular subscriptions aggregated nearly $8,000,000. This, with the municipal appropriation, placed about $13,000,000 in the treasury of the Exhibition. But, as the work went on, the original plans were enlarged in this direction and in that, until it was seen that the original estimate of $10,000,000 was absurdly inadequate. Accordingly a loan of $5,000,000 was asked from the general Government, to bring the total funds up to $18,000,000.
The projectors of the Exhibition estimate that the total receipts from admission tickets will amount to at least $7,000,000. This is not deemed excessive, as will be appreciated from the fact that it is at the rate of less than $1,200,000 a month, $300,000 a week, or $50,000 a day, not including Sundays. The Exhibition is to be open at night as well as day, and in Chicago and within a radius of a few hours’ journey from it there are more than 2,000,000 people to draw from, not taking into account visitors from a distance. With $7,000,000 gate receipts, $2,000,000 from salvage, and $1,000,000 from leasing of privileges on the grounds, the income of the Exhibition would reach $10,000,000. From this it is proposed to repay the Government its $5,000,000, and to divide the remainder among the subscribers to the capital stock. The city’s appropriation of $5,000,000 is an absolute gift, and is not to be repaid.
But even these vast sums represent only a portion of the money that will be expended upon the Columbian Exhibition. The United States Government will spend about $2,000,000. The State of Illinois appropriates about $800,000; Pennsylvania, $350,000; Iowa and Ohio, $250,000 each, and the other States from that sum down to $100,000. The aggregate expenditures of the various States will, therefore, amount to nearly $6,000,000, or, with the National appropriation, nearly $8,000,000. Foreign nations will expend from $4,000,000 to $5,000,000. Vast sums will also be contributed by private enterprise, so that it has been not unreasonably estimated that the total outlay upon the Exhibition will be somewhere between $35,000,000 and $40,000,000.
How much money will be expended in the city of Chicago, at the hotels and elsewhere, by visitors; how much will be paid for railroad transportation by visitors from other parts of the country, and how much money will be brought into and spent in the United States by visitors from abroad, are sums that can be dealt with only by the most vivid imagination. Some little idea of them may be obtained from the following facts: According to an official estimate made to the Department of State some years ago by a United States Consul in Germany, the annual amount of American money taken to Europe by Americans and spent there, for purposes of travel, pleasure, art, and education was $105,000,000. That was a number of years ago. The present annual average is probably more than $125,000,000, and it has been reckoned by competent judges that in 1889, owing to the Paris Exposition, it reached $200,000,000. It is reasonable to suppose that a very considerable return tide of wealth will, in 1893, set toward the American shore.
Some comparison with the World’s Fairs previously held in other countries may be of interest at this point. The acreage of the grounds of various Exhibitions, has been as follows: London, 1851, 21½; Paris, 1867, 87; Vienna, 1873, 280; Philadelphia, 1876, 236; Paris, 1889, 173; and Chicago, 1893, 1,037. The number of square feet under the roofs of the buildings are thus stated: London, 1851, 700,000; Paris, 1867, 3,371,904; Philadelphia, 1876, 1,688,858; Paris, 1889, 1,000,000; and Chicago, 1893, 5,000,000. The number of exhibitors have been: London, 1851, 17,000; Paris, 1867, 52,000; Vienna, 1873, 42,000; Philadelphia, 1876, 30,864; and Paris, 1889, 55,000. The number of days on which the exhibitions were open, were: London, 1851, 144; Paris, 1867, 217; Vienna, 1873, 186; Philadelphia, 1876, 159; Paris, 1889, 183, and Chicago, 1893, 179 days. The number of admissions in London in 1851, were 6,039,195; Paris, 1867, 10,200,000; Vienna, 1873, 7,254,687; Philadelphia, 1876, 9,910,996, and Paris, 1889, 28,149,353. Finally the receipts in London, in 1851, were $1,780,000; Paris, 1867, $2,103,675; Philadelphia, 1876, $3,813,724, and Paris, 1889, $8,300,000.
A recent official statement of the dimensions of the various buildings, and the total cost of buildings and grounds, under the direct control of the Exposition management, together with the estimated operating expenses, is as follows:
| Buildings. | Dimensions in feet. | Area in acres. | Cost. |
| Mines and Mining, | 350x 700 | 5.6 | $260,000 |
| Manufactures and Liberal Arts, | 787x 1687 | 30.5 | 1,000,000 |
| Horticultural, | 250x 1000 | 5.8 | 300,000 |
| Electricity, | 345x 700 | 5.5 | 375,000 |
| Woman’s, | 200x 400 | 1.8 | 120,000 |
| Transportation, | 250x 960 | 5.5 | 280,000 |
| Administration, | 260x 260 | 1.6 | 450,000 |
| Fish and Fisheries, | 163x 363 | 1.4 | —200,000 |
| Annexes (2), | 135 diam. | .8 | |
| Agriculture, | 500x 800 | 9.2 | 540,000 |
| Annex, | 328x 500 | 3.8 | —200,000 |
| Assembly Hall, etc. | 450x 500 | 5.2 | |
| Machinery, | 500x 800 | 9.8 | —1,200,000 |
| Annex, | 490x 551 | 6.2 | |
| Power Horse, | 80x 600 | 1.1 | |
| Fine Arts, | 320x 500 | 3.7 | —500,000 |
| Annexes (2), | 120x 200 | 1.1 | |
| Forestry, | 200x 500 | 2.3 | 100,000 |
| Saw Mill, | 125x 300 | .9 | 35,000 |
| Dairy, | 95x 200 | .5 | 30,000 |
| Live Stock (2), | 53x 330 | 1.3 | —150,000 |
| “ Sheds, | 40.0 | ||
| Casino, | 175x 300 | 1.2 | 150,000 |
| 144.8 | $5,890,000 |
| Grading, filling, etc., | 450,000 |
| Landscape gardening, | 323,490 |
| Viaducts and bridges, | 125,000 |
| Piers, | 70,000 |
| Waterway Improvements, | 225,000 |
| Railways, | 500,000 |
| Steam plant, | 800,000 |
| Electricity, | 1,500,000 |
| Statuary on buildings, | 100,000 |
| Vases, lamps and posts, | 50,000 |
| Seating, | 8,000 |
| Water supply, sewerage, etc., | 600,000 |
| Improvement of lake front, | 200,000 |
| World’s Congress auxiliary, | 200,000 |
| Construction department expenses, | 520,000 |
| Organization and administration, | 3,308,563 |
| Operating expenses, | 1,550,000 |
| $16,420,053 |