were to carry into effect the law as we understand it, and what we have been assured was so understood by your company, to wit:  That the awards, before becoming final, should be approved by the National Commission.  We infer from what was said by you to Mr. Scott, a member of this Commission, and what was said by Judge Boyle to the Commission, that the position of your company is that the approval of the National Commission only refers to the system of making the awards, and not to the awards of the juries.  While we do not agree to this contention, we desire to call your attention to what we consider a number of violations of the rules and regulations governing the system of awards, as agreed upon by the local company and the National Commission.  In the first place, in paragraph 3 of the special rules and regulations providing for the appointment of jurors and governing the system of making awards, it is set forth “that the nominations for group jurors shall be made not later than August 1, 1904, except that nominations made to fill vacancies may be made at any subsequent time.”  It is also provided “that nominations of group jurors and alternates, when approved by the president of the Exposition Company, shall be transmitted to the National Commission for the approval of that body.”  “These nominations, having been considered and confirmed by the authority provided by section 6 of the act of Congress, relating to the approval of the awarding of premiums, the appointment to the international jury shall be made in accordance with section 6 of article 22 of the official rules and regulations of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company.”

You will remember that the nominations of group jurors were not made until long after the time specified in the rules and regulations, which left but a brief time to notify the jurors and allow them time to get here to begin the performance of their duties by the 1st of September.

You will doubtless remember that the writer, Mr. Allen, had an interview with you and Mr. Skiff, in which he protested on behalf of the National Commission that no time was given the Commission to investigate the character of qualifications of the jurors thus nominated, and that it was placing in the hands of the chiefs of the different departments the power to fix up juries and make the awards conform to their own wishes, if they desired to do so.

You will also doubtless remember that Mr. Skiff, in your presence, said to Mr. Allen, as he has said to the Commission frequently before and as he assured us he had said to hundreds of exhibitors, that after the action of the group juries these awards would have to pass the department juries, then the superior jury, then the local company, and finally be approved by the National Commission, and that if anything wrong was done by the group juries thus selected ample opportunity would be had to right such wrong.  Acting on this