thing further about the bidding until it
was announced that the Chicago House Wrecking Company had secured the
contract. When I heard that the Fair Company proposed to do its own
wrecking I thought it a good plan.

The carrying on of the bidding through private negotiations, as
President Francis terms it, was not, I contend, the most advantageous to
the Exposition Company and its stockholders. If they had given all the
bidders an equal show in the matter, and had furnished a list of the
property to be sold, much higher bids would have been obtained.

The secrecy with which the contracts were handled did not give the
bidders a fair opportunity, and was, I believe, an injustice to the
thousands of stockholders of the exposition. The United States
Government, the city of St. Louis, and the stockholders were partners in
the exposition, which made the fair unquestionably a public institution.
Why, then, were not the bids opened in public, thus securing the largest
amount for the exposition and for the stockholders? This was not done.
If it had been the bidding would have been greatly stimulated, bringing
results quite different. The salvage committee refused to allow the bids
to be opened publicly before the contractors, but held them for their
eyes only. This is not in accordance with the manner of handling bids on
big public works. When the partial list of property was given out the
requirements in the specifications almost made the bidding prohibitive.
The Exposition Company demanded a check for half of the amount of the
bid. In all my experience I have never before been asked to meet such a
requirement. In itself that was almost enough to drive off the bidders.
The Chicago House Wrecking Company put up less than one-fourth of the
price to be paid, or $100,000.

I am of the opinion that had the Exposition Company properly prepared a
list of its properties and holdings and furnished the prospective
bidders with such lists and an opportunity for the examination of the
articles mentioned therein, together with a reasonable period of time
for removal of the buildings and debris, they could easily have obtained
$750,000.

I have obtained a more comprehensive knowledge of the amount and
character of the material and property since put into the hands of the
Chicago House Wrecking Company, and am of the opinion that at the time
the contract was made with the Chicago House Wrecking Company the
property sold represented a value