e work, and their own appropriation
was not received by the board in time to be made available.

The following is the final report of the committee on women's
congresses:

The committee on women's congresses was appointed by Mrs. Blair,
April 19, 1903, and was composed of Mrs. Andrews, Mrs. Hanger,
and Mrs. Buchwalter, who was, by unanimous vote, made chairman
December 18 of that year.

When the committee was first created it asked for a letter of
instruction from the exposition board. This letter was received
together with a list of women's organizations which had been
compiled in the office of the Exposition Company. Communications
were at once sent to each of these associations, also to others
selected by the committee, in all more than fifty. In addition
to extending an invitation to hold its meeting at St. Louis
during the World's Fair, each organization was told that a place
of meeting would be provided, and that all possible aid would be
given in making preliminary arrangements by a board of
information which would be ready to supply any assistance
necessary in preparing for the meeting.

Up to this time it had been hoped that it would be possible to
inaugurate a series of meetings of women's associations which
would be congresses in more than name. The committee, however,
was confronted with the serious limitation of no treasury from
which to draw. At the last meeting of the board during the
incumbency of the first president, a committee had been
appointed with Mrs. Manning as chairman, which was to ask
Congress for $100,000 for the use of the board of lady managers.
It was hoped that this matter might be brought to the attention
of Congress at the special session in the fall of 1903, but the
delay caused by the necessity of electing a new president
retarded all the work of the board. Upon the election of Mrs.
Manning to the presidency a new legislative committee was
appointed which, unfortunately, was not able to report the
success of its mission of securing the appropriation until March
1, 1904, by which time all the organizations had perfected their
plans for that year, in consequence of which all idea of
congresses was reluctantly abandoned.

In the meantime responses were received from many of the larger
organizations, some of which said that experience had s