The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1810-04-24
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
TO THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.
No. XII.

1now come to that part of the report in which
the committee, by making an arbitrary valuation
or apPraisement of the articles manufactured, en-
deaVor to make 1t appear that the muskets had
cost much more than had stated. or that much
more public money had been expended in making
them than ought to have been and although
much ingenuity has been displayed in this part Of
their report, its want of frankIiess and tots, in
correctness shall be exposed
| When temporary manufactoryis to be erect.
ed lot a temporary purpose, as little expense as
possible should be incurred. Instead of purcha.
sing IN fee simple, a lease should be made, of a
scItc en- which to place il and the cheapest bull
dlngs, &c. that can be made to answer the p,,r-
pose, put up. And when the whole of the ma
t,ifactared articles are completed, and the works
discontinued, 1t would then be proper, and not
till then, to add the expence of the lease, and of
the buildings, apparatus, tools, &C. to the cost Of
the materials and labor EMPLOYED in their manu-
facture and by dividing that aggregate sum, by
the number OF articles made-the cost of each
article might be ascertained.
But IN relation TO permanent establishments.
the case is widely different. The Virgins. Ma
nufactory of Arms, an institution established for
continual supply of arms for our INCREASING mi
litia, was intended by the patriots who were its
principal founders, to,be of permanent construc-
ton, so that it mght last for ages, and be handed
down as valuable boon to posterity-it was
therefore necessary that the most ELIGIBLE scite
iishment, and that the edifces aid the works,
apparatus &c. within them, should be built in the
best manner and of the most durable materials
When was invited into the public service, was
requested by the governor to select for those
works, the most eligible scite, in my judgment.
IN Richmond or its vicinity and in his letter, of
the 18th February, 1898, which was published in
the Enquirer ofthe 9TH of April last-he requests
me to furnish plan of the works requisite for
the annual manufacture IF .four sholsand stand of
arms
When such mandatory Of arms, with all
Its machinery, apparatus, &c. is completed,
and a set of tools furnished for each artist to be
employed in the various branches of the work, all
the subsequent expences incurred in the making
81 arms, &c. should be charged to the articles
manufactured mean n OF merely tbs cost ofthe
materials and the execution of the work, but also
the expence of keeping the buildings, machine
ry, tools, &c. IN repair, the officers salaries, and
every other charge incurred in making the arms;
&c. And had this committee have gone to the
books and documents in the Auditors office, and
by An examination of them, have ascertained the
amount of money actually expended in the ma
KING OF arms, and the repair of the works, tools
officers salaries, &c. and after deductng the a.
mount OF the component parts and materials on
hand, from that sum (; have divided the balance
by the number of arms, &c. made, it would have
enabled them to have stated the true cost of the
| arms. But instead of pursuing this course.
which TREY must have known was the only cor
rect one, towards ascer;aining the actual cost of
the arms they reported as follows
Your committee deem it portion of their
duty, to present to the house as correct a view of
the cost of arms, manufactured at the public ar
mory, is in their po AS the data of their cal.
| cuatons, they have taken the amount of money
expended in carrying on the operations, deduct
ing three.fourths OF the price Of tools and imDle-
Inents purchased, PRESENTING that fourth at
least OF their value, has been impaired by tise.-
from that sum they have deducted the value of
the materials on baird (including the scrap iron
and steel, the value Of the component parts, and
the real value OF arms what they ought to cost,
which either are inferior in value to muskets or
less IN number. The balance of the sum divided
by the muskets really finished, will 5hew the sum
which the rnuskets cost, presuming the other
arms to cost what they are reallJ worth and it
will moreover shew, by comparing the sum the
miskets are really worth, with such result the a.
mount Which has either been gained or lost by
the institution, since the commencement of the
| operations, or it will shew the amount which
| each muskst has cost the common wealth.
. The following is the detail and the result
" amount OF money drawn from the
| Treasury, for the mandatory of
arms, from the first day of May,
! 1901, to the 1st October, 1893, as
per Auditors statement, S 264, 622 90
| From which deduct
Charges improperly madeto thst oh.
ject, tfs 2,2S1 ID
Three.fourtis OF the amount ezpen.
ded for tools. 6,949 o6
! Materials on hand as per Superintcn-
dsnt's report, 9,7o2 70
Component parts, as by the saue
| statement, 40 sol IL
80 tons, 2 ewt scrap iron, at 50 Sper
ton, 2,347 os
4 he eel AZ