In so vast an expanse this friendly competition of
Spaniards and Portuguese becomes, to the eye, a union of their
pretensions; and a single family of thirty-three millions in Europe and
America combines to present us with two of the handsomest structures in
the hall.
[Illustration: FACADE OF THE BRAZILIAN DIVISION, MAIN BUILDING.]
A moderate dip into statistics can no longer be evaded. We must map out
the microcosm, and allot to each sovereign power its quota of the
surface. The great European states which have assumed within the century
the supreme direction of human affairs are assigned a prominent central
position in the Main Building. Great Britain and her Asiatic possessions
occupy just eighty-three feet less than a hundred thousand; her other
colonies, including Canada, 48,150; France and her colonies, 43,314;
Germany, 27,975; Austria, 24,070; Russia, 11,002; Spain, 11,253; Sweden
and Belgium, each 15,358; Norway, 6897; Italy, 8167; Japan, 16,566;
Switzerland, 6646; China, 7504; Brazil, 6397; Egypt, 5146; Mexico, 6504;
Turkey, 4805; Denmark, 1462; and Tunis, 2015. These, with minor
apportionments to Venezuela, the Argentine Confederation, Chili, Peru
and the Orange Free State of South Africa, cover the original area of
the structure, deducting the reservation of 187,705 feet for the United
States, and excluding thirty-eight thousand square feet in the annexes.
France must be credited, in explanation of her comparatively limited
territory under the main roof, with her external pavilions devoted to
bronzes, glass, perfumery and (chief of all) to her magnificent
government exhibit of technical plans, drawings and models in
engineering, civil and military, and architecture.
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