Aug. 19, 1922

EXPOSITION ENDORSED AT BIG MEETING

Mayor Gates Urges People of Jackson County to Support Project — Great Benefits to State Claimed — Visitors Praise Local Scenery and Medford Mayor

The band concert by the Elks band and the program given by members of the Oregon Exposition Caravan, which arrived yesterday afternoon from Crater Lake, were attended by a large crowd last night. Several hundred autos were parked in the streets bordering the park.

Speeches, carried to points far distant by the portable radio broadcasting set carried by the caravan, were made by prominent Portland men and by Mayor C. E. Gates of Medford who introduced the caravan members.

The mayor welcomed them to the city and was enthusiastic in his praise of the exposition which they planned. He praised the state of Oregon and the Rogue River Valley saying that he knew of no other place he would rather live. He stated that Oregon had all that a human heart could wish for but that it was necessary to increase the population of the state and that the great fair would do this by its attraction of tourists to the state. The tourists who come to the state, predicted Mayor Gates,w ill find it irresistible and will settle here.

He informed the crowd that Portland was not trying to sell them anything, was not trying to saddle a tax upon them to finance the fair, but was merely asking for their aid with the ballot to amend the state laws so that Portland would be permitted to tax herself to finance the fair.

He was so enthusiastic over the fair before he terminated his speech that at its end someone in the crowd remarked that he must still be a member of the fair board. This remark caused a gust of laughter.

Gates is Praised

At the end of his address of welcome to the caravan members Mr. Gates turned the meeting over to Chairman Fred L. Carlton, who introduced A. H. Lea, secretary of the fair association and director of the 1925 exposition who stated that Mayor C. E. Gates was one of the best men who had ever been on the fair board and that he always responded in short order when called upon to do more than his part. He then explained the aims of the promoters of the fair and stated that they did not wish to make it a world’s fair as foreign countries were in no condition at this time to build buildings and make exhibits, but that they wished to confine the fair to the United States and Canada. In closing he stated that he hoped that Medford would be unanimous in her support of the exposition in 1925.

— Alissa Corman; acorman@rosebudmedia.com