Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-06-22

yves. NO fOt6 WAS tdkcH upOn AZ III
that body after its final passage in the
House on the 9th of August. And
yet in voting against that bill, on that
day, Governor HARRIS represents him
self and fifty-eight other Democrats, as
voting against the extension PROPOSE
ton which had no existence until twen-
ty-three days afterwards, when it was
originated in the Senate, and which
alerer. an any stape or form, was before
the House until the 9th of September
Just one month after Gov. HARRIS
represents himself and fifty-eight Dem
ocrats as having voted against i'll Elk
traordinary performance that more
wonderful than all the feats of SAM.
PATCH, who had for saying, that
"some things could be done as well as
others"-more remarkable than all the
marvellous tricks of Eastern jngglers-
to vote in the House against mea-
sure twenty-three days before it was
brought forward in either House, and
just one month before it ever, in any
shape or form, came under the consid-
Grafton of the Housed
We-will now proceed to examine, in
connection, two other statements made
by Gov. HARRIS in relation to this mat
ter.
As reported in the Union and Anseri-
can, Gov. HARRIS says:
"The amounts which have been expended
in completing this work on the plan commence
ed by Mr.. FILLMORE and his architect foot up
the round sum of S4,695 900, and the work is
not yet completed"
AS reported by gentleman of this
place, whose report appeared in the
last number of the Opposition" Gov.
HARRIS stated in his speech at Column
bia, that the "engineer who superin-
tends the construction of the Capitol,
and who embelished that costly ediice
with forty thousand dollar doors and
seventeen thousand dollar windows,
was appointed by Mr.. FILLMORE"
Both these statements are wholly IN
true in point of fact, as We will show by
official evidence.
We have seen that the proposition
for the extension of the Capitol, as it
originally passed the Senate, provided
that the plan should be agreed and deci-
ded upon by the Committee of the two
Houses on Public Buildings; and that
the proposition was subsequently so
modified by the two Houses of Con-
gress as to devolve the duty of select
ing plan upon the President.
In the Senate of the United States,
on the Oath of March, 1852, Mr.. Hun
TER, the distinguished Democratic SEN
ator from Virginia, said that one rea-
son why it was left to the President to
select plan was, that the committees
of both Houses disagreed as to the
plan. Mr.. HUNTER further stated, that
President FILLMORE, before selecting a
plan, asked for the drawings which
had been laid before the committees
| that he invited both committees to
meet him for the purpose of obtaining
their views; that he, Mr.. HUNTER, was
| present, as member of one of the COM
mittees, and he believed all the mem
bers of the committees were present,
and that Mr.. FILLMORE took tier
views in relation to the matter.-See
Cong. GLOBE, vol. "a, part 2, page SAT
The architect employed by Mr.. FILL
MORE was THOMAS U. WALTER, of Phil
adclphia, who had planned and erected
the Girard College, and who confess.
edly stands at the head of his profess.
ion in the United States.
The corner stone of the extension
was laid on the 4th of July, 1851.
In his report of December %, 1851,
to the Secretary of the Interior, the
| Architect says:
al have estimated the cost of executing
! the entire design. in accordance with the
| drawings and models, the whole to be faced
! with white rble, and finished in a subStan.
tial workmanlike manner, and find that every
expense will be covered by S2,675.000. This
estimate is founded upon the assumption that
the interior If the Re,O building t0iH not be more eI
perSiUeiy finished than the present Cdptot; If there
fore, it should be hereafter decided to intro
auce architectural embellishments of more oyTlat
expensive character, The cost triH be proportion
atety augmented"
Up to the 4th Of March, 1858, when
Mr.. FILLMORE went out of office, not
quite two years after the corner stone
of the extension was laid, but one mil
lion of dollars had been appropriated
by Congress towards the construction
of the work.
The PIERCE administration then took
it in hand. We quote from the first
report, December, 1853, of the Hon
JEFFERSON DAVIS, Secretary of War
under President PIERCE. The reader
will bear in mind that the report is ad
! dressed to President PIERCE:
THE work for the extension of the Capitol
which. by your order of the 23rd of March, wal
transferred from the Department of the Int
rior TO the War Department., has been prose
cnted with due diligence under the speeia
charge of Captain VI. q. MEIos OF the corps o
engineers and Il gives me pleasure 10 beal
testimony to the manner in which that Office
has discharged his duty-tully sustaining hi
reputation for professional skill, zeal, anC
fidelity. He was placed upon that duty
April 4th. 1853, and directed specially to ex