You will remark the important statement that the essential parts of the
exposition buildings will be completed by the 15th of September, and the
laying of the floors between then and the 1st of October, when the
commission of each country can proceed to parcel out its section.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce,
Universal International Exposition of
1878, at Paris,
Direction of Foreign Sections,
Paris, August 17,
1877.
M. ______:
An entire year has elapsed since the day when the French Government
invited the civilized nations of the whole world to the International
and Universal Exposition of 1878, which will have for its theater the
united space of the Champ de Mars and the Trocaadéro.
Nothing has been able to retard the efforts of the general commissariat
since that epoch. They have been only equaled by the flattering
eagerness with which foreign countries have responded successively to
the appeal of France.
It was, above all, necessary that the palace of the Champ de Mars, which
will form the chief place of the exposition, should be rapidly finished.
The work of interior organization, commenced at the proper time, should
then be carried out, in readiness for an entire installation on the
opening day.
The first part of this programme is about to be realized; from the 15th
of next September the palace of the Champ de Mars will be finished in
all its essential parts. We approach, then, the moment when each foreign
commission will be able to take permanent possession of the compartment
reserved for it.
The uncovered spaces in the parks and gardens are all ready and at the
disposition of the countries designated to make use of them. The plans
of installation are everywhere very advanced. The general commissariat
has been informed of the plans of the majority for national façades, of
which the foundations have been prepared by its care.
Two or three of the foreign commissions only, among those of countries
most distant, are backward in sending answers to certain instructions
which have been requested of them concerning the construction of
partitions in the galleries of the fine arts, and the repartition of
doors through the walls situated along the covered promenade
[Page 169]
and on each side of the grand
gallery for machinery. I am in hopes that all the plans asked for will
have arrived in Paris before a month’s time.
On the other side, the French general commission will have soon concluded
in placing itself in accord with the nations interested upon the subject
of the arrangements to be taken for furnishing motor power and putting
in movement the machinery. However it may be, it is to be wished that
each should not delay longer the accomplishment of the work. It is
necessary that the heavy masonry of the national facades and the
exterior works should be finished before the bad weather commences. If
this last result is accomplished, we will only have to occupy ourselves,
during the winter, with the arrangement of the interior, without the
anxiety of delays which the rains of spring or prolonged cold might
occasion to outdoor work.
Our undertaking is not one to be compared to those which ordinarily are
carried on by architects and engineers. It is prudent to allow for
possibilities which may render futile more than one plan decided upon in
arranging the details of the work. In considering in the first place the
work of the interior arrangement, there is nothing to hinder its
commencement, only having regard to the two great divisions of the
plan.
The placing of the flooring will be finished by the 15th September or 1st
of October; from that date, which may be advanced for the construction
of parts of the typical facades, it will be well for each national
commission to proceed to placing the partitions and the principal
divisions of its section.
As to the exterior buildings to be erected of different kinds, nothing
hinders the immediate laying of the foundations, and next the heavy work
and the goofing, only reserving the decorative part and that of the
interior to keep pace with the wants of the installation.
I insist upon my proposition to commence these works sufficiently in
advance, in observing at the same time that the contractors and the
French workmen whom the foreign commissions may have to employ will not
be found exacting unless delays intervene rendering the time so short as
to change the normal condition of things appertaining to the work.
During the preceding expositions the embarrassments occasioned in the
last hours have arisen because the operations of handling the
productions have commenced before the complete termination of the work
of installment. This comprises two distinct periods, during which the
work should be conducted in such a manner that the delays in one should
not compromise the methodical execution of the other. It is necessary,
in the first place, that the halls of the exposition should be made
ready, by the construction of partitions and placing the doors. It is
necessary, then, to finish the transportation, the mounting and putting
in place of the glass-work, before the time designated for the arrival
of products; that is to say, for the work, strictly speaking, of
arrangements. I leave apart the question of machinery; the foundations
for this can be undertaken much in advance, for the day is near when the
great gallery will be completely covered and inclosed, upon the
condition, nevertheless, that everything shall have been made ready for
the transmission and the conducting of steam.
I conclude by repeating that from the 15th of September next the
architects and the engineers of the foreign commissions may be admitted
to commence work upon the grounds.
I do not place in doubt your good disposition to prove that the
experiences already made have borne their fruit. You will not tolerate
the renewal of errors, of difficulties, and of false manœuvers which
have been the cause that to this day no exposition has been ready at the
hour wished for. Is it not likewise better to put aside, as quickly as
possible, the cares of the material work, in dwelling upon all which
remains for us to accomplish in another order of ideas, if only for the
organization of the labors of the international jury of recompenses;
that is to say, for the part the most elevated and the most delicate of
our common work?
Permit me, then, to call your attention once more to the compiling of the
catalogue, of which the manuscript has been requested of you for the 1st
of next October.
Accept, &c.,
The director of foreign sections,
G.
BERGER.
