The World's Fair Statistical Fiasco
King County scrambled to prove its economic worth to the Chicago World’s Fair commission, while local officials grumbled about the impossibility of gathering honest numbers from suspicious business owners.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Chamber of Commerce is doing all it can to hurry up the matter of gathering statistics of commerce, manufactures and mining in King County for the use of the World's Fair commission. Unless this information is promptly furnished, King County will not be represented in the statistical report being prepared by the state commission. Frank Paul, ex-county assessor, explained the difficulty of the task: 'I had learned by experience that the very idea of sending a man out to get these statistics and at the same time make an assessment was ridiculous upon its face. If a man gave in good statistics, he had to pay for his folly by paying a high tax, and if he gave nothing, he would expect a low assessment. The deputies, when approaching these manufacturers and banks, often received a very short answer and were given to understand that they had no statements to make in regard to what they consider their own private affairs.'
“The majority of persons in this world of ours seem to think it the correct and proper thing to evade taxation and to that end seek in every way to hide from the assessor the true state of their personal property.”
The tension between economic data collection and the fear of taxation remains a staple of civic life. Today's debates over public-private partnerships and civic boosterism for events like the World's Fair still run up against the deep-seated American resistance to transparency when the government comes knocking for 'stats'.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.