In accordance with the authority thus conferred it was your pleasure to appoint the undersigned to represent you in this work. You acted promptly and gave your Representatives ample time to take advantage of the seasons to secure samples of everything necessary for a complete display of the State's resources. To this one fact is due largely the greater completeness of the Seattle exhibit than any California had previously made. You also relieved your Representatives of possible embarrassment by allowing them to appoint their own assistants and fix their compensation and term of service. In the exercise of this authority preference was given to those best qualified to perform the work required, and the term of employment depended on efficiency and good behavior. No help was hired that was not absolutely necessary, and no one was kept on the pay-roll a moment longer than his or her services were required. In short, it was our determined purpose from the start to try and secure maximum results at a minimum cost in every department of the work, to the end that the final outcome might be an improvement on any previous effort made by California of a similar character. We considered this to be necessary, not only in deference to our own reputation, but more particularly for the credit and benefit of the State. You can understand if the display made at Seattle had been less complete or in any way less attractive than the one made at Portland, for instance, the impression created would be that those in charge were becoming careless, or that California was retrograding, a condition that would probably have resulted in as much harm as good, and largely or entirely neutralized the object of the Legislature in making the appropriation. IMPROVEMENT IMPERATIVE.