Chapter 420. To encourage the holding of a Pan-American Exposition on the Niagara frontier, within the county of Erie or Niagara, in the State of New York, in the year nineteen hundred and one
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Chap. 420: To encourage the holding of a Pan-American Exposition on the Niagara frontier, within the county of Erie or Niagara, in the State of New York, in the year nineteen hundred and one. Chapter 420 30 Stat. 1022 1899-03-03 United States Government Publishing Office text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Digitization Vendor 2025-11-03 55 3 public 1022 FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. III. Ch. 420. 1899. chap. 420.— An Act To encourage the holding of a Pan-American Exposition on the Niagara frontier, within the county of Erie or Niagara, in the State of New York, in the year nineteen hundred and one.March 3, 1899. Whereas it is desirable to encourage the holding of a Pan-American Pan-American Exposition, New York. *Ante,* p. 753. Preamble. Exposition on the Niagara frontier, within the county of Erie or Niagara, in the State of New York, in the year nineteen hundred and one, to fittingly illustrate the marvelous development of the Western Hemisphere during the nineteenth century, by a display of the arts, industries, manufactures, and products of the soil, mines, and sea; and Whereas the proposed Pan-American Exposition, being confined to the Western Hemisphere, and being held in the near vicinity of the great Niagara cataract, within a day’s journey of which reside forty million people, would unquestionably be of vast benefit to the commercial interests, not only of this country, but of the entire hemisphere, and should therefore have the sanction of the Congress of the United States; and Whereas satisfactory assurances have already been given by the diplomatic representatives of Canada, Mexico, the Central and South American Republics, and most of the States of the United States that these countries and States will make unique, interesting, and instructive exhibits peculiarly illustrative of their material progress during the century about to close; and Whereas no exposition of a similar character as that proposed has ever been held in the great State of New York; and Whereas the Pan-American Exposition Company has undertaken to hold such exposition, beginning on the first day of May, nineteen hundred and one, and closing on the first day of November, nineteen hundred and one:
Therefore, *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That all articles that shall be Exhibits imported for, admitted free. imported from foreign countries for the sole purpose of exhibition at said exposition upon which there shall be a tariff or customs duty shall be admitted free of payment of duty, customs fees, or charges, under such regulation as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe; but it shall be lawful at any time during the exposition to sell for delivery at the close thereof any goods or property imported for or actually on exhibition in the exposition buildings, or on the grounds, subject to such regulation for the security of the revenue and for the collection of import duties as the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe: *Provided,**Provisos.* —subsequent sale of, duty.
That all such articles when sold or withdrawn for consumption in the United States shall be subject to the duty, if any, imposed upon such articles by the revenue laws in force at the date of importation, and all penalties prescribed by law shall be applied and enforced against the persons who may be guilty of any illegal sale or withdrawal: *And provided further,* That all necessary expenses incurred in carrying out Salaries and expenses. the provisions of this section, including salaries of customs officials in charge of imported articles, shall be paid to the Treasury of the United States by the Pan-American Exposition Company, under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury.
Sec. 2. That there shall be exhibited at said exposition by the Exhibits from Executive Departments. Government of the United States, from its Executive Departments, the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum, the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, the Department of Labor, and the Bureau of the American Republics, such articles and material as illustrate the function and administrative faculty of the Government in time of peace, and its resources as a war power, and its relations to other American Republics, tending to demonstrate the nature of our institutions and their adaption to the wants of the people.
And to secure a —board to arrange, transport, etc. complete and harmonious arrangement of such Government exhibit, a board of management shall be created, to be charged with the selection, purchase, preparation, transportation, arrangement, safe keeping, exhibition, and return of such articles and materials as the heads of the several Departments and the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1023 the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, the Commissioner of Labor, and the Director of the Bureau of the American Republics may respectively decide shall be embraced in said Government exhibit.
The President may also designate additional articles for exhibition. Such —composition of. board shall be composed of one person to be named by the head of each Executive Department, one by the head of the Smithsonian Institution and National Museum, one by the head of the United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, one by the Commissioner of Labor, and one by the Director of the Bureau of the American Republics. The President shall name one of said persons so detailed as chairman, and the board itself shall appoint its secretary, disbursing officer, and such other officers as it may deem necessary.
The members of said board of —compensation. management, with other officers and employees of the Government who may be detailed to assist them, including officers of the Army and Navy, shall receive no compensation in addition to their regular salaries, but they shall be allowed their actual and necessary traveling expenses, together with a per diem in lieu of subsistence, to be fixed by the Secretary of the Treasury, while necessarily absent from their homes engaged upon the business of the board.
Officers of the Army and Navy shall receive this allowance in lieu of the transportation and mileage now allowed by law. Any provision of law which may Detail of Government officials. prohibit the detail of persons in the employ of the United States to other service than that which they customarily perform shall not apply to persons detailed for duty in connection with the Pan-American Exposition. Employees of the board not otherwise employed by the Government shall be entitled to such compensation as the board may determine.
The disbursing officer shall give bond in the sum of twenty thousand Disbursing officer, bond of. dollars for the faithful performance of his duties, said bond to be approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. The Secretary of the —advances to, for expenses Government exhibit. Treasury shall advance to said officer, from time to time, under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, a sum of money from the appropriation for the Government exhibit, not exceeding at any one time three-fourths of the penalty of his bond, to enable him to pay the expenses of said exhibit as authorized by the board of management herein created.
Sec. 3. That the Secretary of the Treasury shall cause a suitable Government buildings. building or buildings to be erected on the site selected for the Pan-American Exposition for the Government exhibits from plans to be approved by the board, and he is hereby authorized and directed to contract therefor in the same manner and under the same regulations as for other public buildings of the United States; but the contract for —cost limited. said building or buildings shall not exceed the sum of two hundred thousand dollars, said sum being hereby appropriated for said purpose, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated.
The —final disposition of. Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and required to dispose of such building or buildings, or the material composing the same, at the close of the exposition, giving preference to the city of Buffalo or to the said Pan-American Exposition Company to purchase the same at an appraised value, to be ascertained in such manner as may be determined by the Secretary of the Treasury. Sec. 4. That the United States shall not be liable on account of said Liability of United States limited. exposition for any expense incident to or growing out of same, except for the construction of the building or buildings hereinbefore provided for, and for the purpose of paying the expense of selection, preparation, purchase, installation, transportation, care, custody, and safe return of exhibits by the Government, for the employment of proper persons as officers and assistants by the board of management created by this Act and for their expenses, and for the maintenance of the said building or buildings and other contingent expenses, to be approved by the chairman of the board of management, or, in the event of his absence or disability, by such other officer as the board may designate and the Secretary of the Treasury upon itemized accounts and vouchers; and the total cost of said building or buildings shall not exceed the sum of 1024FIFTY-FIFTH CONGRESS.
Sess. III. Ch. 420, 421. 1899. two hundred thousand dollars: nor shall the expenses of said Government Appropriation for expenses limited. exhibit for each and every purpose connected therewith, including transportation, exceed the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, amounting in all to not exceeding the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, which sum is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to be disbursed by the board of management hereinbefore created, of which not exceeding the sum of ten thousand dollars shall be expended for clerical service: *Provided,* That no liability against the Government shall be incurred, *Proviso.* Appropriation conditioned on subscriptions of equal amount. and no expenditure of money under this Act shall be made, until the officers of said exposition shall have furnished the Secretary of the Treasury proofs to his satisfaction that there has been obtained by said exposition corporation subscriptions of stock in good faith, contributions, donations, or appropriations from all sources for the purposes of said exposition a sum aggregating not less than five hundred thousand dollars.
Sec. 5. That medals, with appropriate devices, emblems, and inscriptions Commemorative medals. commemorative of said Pan-American Exposition, and of the awards to be made to the exhibitors thereat, shall be prepared at some mint of the United States for the board of directors thereof, subject to Vo. 17, p. 432. the provisions of the fifty-second section of the coinage Act of eighteen hundred and ninety-three, upon the payment of a sum not less than the cost thereof; and all the provisions, whether penal or otherwise, of said coinage Act against the counterfeiting or imitating of coins of the United States shall apply to the medals struck and issued under this Act.
Sec. 6. That the United States shall not in any manner nor under Liability of United States for acts, etc., of officers. any circumstances be liable for any of the acts, doings, proceedings, or representations of said Pan-American Exposition Association, its officers, agents, servants, or employees, or any of them, or for service, salaries, labor, or wages of said officers, agents, servants, or employees, or any of them, or for any subscriptions to the capital stock, or for any certificates of stock, bonds, mortgages, or obligations of any kind issued by said corporation, or for any debts, liabilities, or expenses of any kind whatever attending such corporation, or accruing by reason of the same.
Sec. 7. That nothing in this Act shall be so construed as to create —debts. any liability of the United States, direct or indirect, for any debt or obligation incurred, nor for any claim for aid or pecuniary assistance from Congress or the Treasury of the United States in support or liquidation of any debts or obligations created by said commission in excess of appropriations made by Congress therefor. Sec. 8. That the appropriation herein made of five hundred thousand Appropriation immediately available. dollars in all shall take effect and become available immediately upon the passage of this Act.
Approved, March 3, 1899.
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Chapter 420
To encourage the holding of a Pan-American Exposition on the Niagara frontier, within the county of Erie or Niagara, in the State of New York, in the year nineteen hundred and one
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