as they may elect.  The bill does not provide definitely out of which of our payments this $100,000 should come.  The bill provided that we should get the money in four installments of $1,000,000 each, and a final installment of $600,000 not being payable until May.  The bill does not provide out of which payment your $100,000 shall be paid, but I wish to say, on behalf of the Exposition Company, we are willing and ready to pay that whenever you ladies request that it shall be paid.  We do not know what plans, if any, you have made or in what manner you are planning for the disbursement of that money. * * *

Now, with regard to your money, I am not going to give you any gratuitous advice, but only wish to assure you that it is the intention of the company—­that the company is ready to give that money to you in any form you may desire it.  It will be given to you in any installments you may designate or it will be set aside in its entirety to be used for no other purpose than to honor requisitions of the board of lady managers.

In other words, it is possible for us to do this, and we will do it to your satisfaction, and we will draw up a letter of instruction and set aside as a special credit in the Treasury the sum of $100,000 in accordance with our bill of Congress, approved blank date.  The auditor will draw his warrants without the approval of the treasurer of this company, but merely upon the requisition of the board of lady managers.  The $100,000 would be set aside in the treasury of the company and you would have a written instrument and the treasurer would have orders to honor checks made upon that $100,000 in satisfaction of requisitions approved by the board of lady managers.

Of course, as I said before, if you wish to take that money out and put it in some depository in St. Louis or elsewhere it is at your disposal.  You could get a check for a portion of the money or all of it if you wish.  Our only obligation in connection with that $100,000 now is to repay it, as we have no intention or desire to avoid that part of it.

Now, if you should take the money out and put it in some depository in St. Louis or elsewhere to your credit you would be put to the expense of organizing an auditing system, the same as we have been.

I am willing, speaking on behalf of the company, to give you the benefit of the auditing system without your incurring any additional expense, and, if you wish, in order to make you doubly secure, I will get a letter from the treasurer stating that he has, in accordance with the instructions of the president, set aside $100,000 for the use of the board of lady managers, and that the $100,000 can only be drawn by checks signed by your treasurer and countersigned by your president.

    I only say this as a suggestion, because we all have become
    interested, but if you choose to ask us for $25,000 of the
    money, or for all of it, we will give it you.