The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-11-02

OF the work on those streets was under con.
der on X street, on being Informed that Dono-
van would nol do the work on q and First
streets unless he could have the others, offered
less than all the lowest bids" which would
have made the aggregate cost Of the work
t,ois.ts less than the price for which the work
Touching the second part OF the inquiry,
whether the work on said streets has been
lone Ion seeo,dins to the terms Of the contract.
parts Of q, X and First streets included 10 the
contract referred 70, except q short part OF X
street, between sixth and Eighth streets east,
Of the examination made BY the committee,
and Of the measurements made by the commit
he eommitsee The msssnrsmsn sn's msss Ss
the committee and tho measurements testified
to by the city surveyor disclosed the fact that
graded only TO an average width Of 20 feet
That X street, which should be 90 feet 9
inches 10 width, is graded only to a width
10 any place graded to Its proper width. Its
also IN evidence before the committee that the
upper surface Of the gravel on X street, be-
below the established grade Of the street 40
average distance Of two feet, and that the
upper surface OF the gravel on q street. be-
tween the railroad and Second street east, was
at some points not less than two feet below
the established grade,
1t 10 also In evidence before the committee
that the thickness Of gravel OF the streets that
have been gravcled is less than that required
| In the contract, which IL nine Inches Al the
middle Of the street and four inches At the
The thickness Of the gravel 10 found to vary
| from "a few pebbles on the surface,n to the
tbieEness required BY the oonsrscs only IL one
| place-a point In q street, near the curb line,
Just east Of the ailroad-the average thickness
being less than half OF that required by the
| contract. H..
The contract under which this work 10 being
done, 10 dated February Is, 1850, and provides
days after the date Of the contract, and finished
| within one hundred and eighty.hve days after
| said date, which time expired August q, 1859.
| with these facts before them, the minority
committee can come to no other conclusion
than that the work has not been done accord.
log to the terms Of the contract.
money has been paid Tor WORK done under said
| contract witho ut warrant oil law" the Minority
ofthe committee hnd that the'woTk was bid for
| after an advertisement setting forth that this
| work was to be done according to certain
Specifications, one Of which requires that the
work shal! be aui.hed before any psyne9. is
nude his bid one cent per yard, both for gray.
cling and grading, lc6s than It was had he
known that payments would have been made
during the progress OF the work. that during
the progress Of the work there was paid to
Donovan " ,Tl5.3s, And there was losned to
|
quest of the Mayor, Purporting to authorize
said bank to appropriate 5000 OF the frst
moneys received lot taxes TO repay said loani
that by the terms Of the contract, earth taken
from excavation on one street aud used for
embankment on smother should be paid for
both as excavation and embNnkmenti that
nestly all Of the cmbsnkment on u aad First
streets. paid for April ~, 1850 was taken from
X street, aud also paid for as excavation, and
that none OF the bills for work under this CON
tract that have been paid have received the
approval OF either the commissioner Of I'm.
pf6vements Of the Fourth ward or any OF the
assistant commissioners appointed to super
Intend the work.
The minority Of tho committee conclude
that the payment OF moneys for work for
warrant OF law, and that to authorize the
First National Bank to appropriate money
belonging to this Corporation to the payment
OF loans made by sid bank 10 not only with
out warrant Of law, but Ia direct violation
of the law as laid down In Webb's Digest,
page 2J5, section TO- Whether the payments
Of moneys on the contract before any moneys
are due, although some work has been done,
OF whether the payment OF moneys on street
improvements, without the approval Of any
Que Of the commissioners appointed to super.
wise said Improvements, 10 without warrant OF
law, Is $ question which the committee leave
to be determined by the Common Council
; without expressing any opinion ourselves.
JAMES HOLMES.
Mr.. Browne moved that the reports be
received, and made the special order for next
. Monday evening.
T Mr.. Pardon moved to lay the motion on
the table, and the secretary proceeded to call
, the roll on the mot On.
Mr.. Browne, WHEN his name was called,
said that he had not read the testimony, and
would like to have n chance to read the
reports carefully before voting on such an
important subject. lie therefore voted
''no.'
Mr.. Burgess said that this farce, In his
opinion, had been going on long enough
Even II all the charges were proven to be
I. true, there was no crime, aud In all his &C
tons the Mayor was disposed to do right.
lie voted sage"
Mr.. Pardon said that tho whole question
3 came GU the poln, whether Mr.. Donovan
4 was the lowest bidder. The committee re
= ported that he was. He voted "ayc."
. Mr.. Hatton said he should vote no." fo
the reason that his colleague had stated tina
% the minority was only partial report, ant
i that he desired to hear 1t all before votin!
= on the two reports.
Il Mr.. Holmes said that the Board had force
him to make his report tonight. By belnl
10 forced he had not had time to examin
a thoroughly the mass OF evidence as well q
: he ought to have done, aud the consequence
" was that he could not vote inteligently Of
the subject. He would say, however, tina
10 John Donovan was not the lowest bidder
2 The lowest bidders were: Mr.. Eslin for NJ
2 Donovan for g and First streets. He votet
! "no.n
r Mr.. johnson said that, in his opinion, ther,
had been sufficient time for q thorough In
=. vestigation. The whole matter had take,
eight weeks, and now bids fair to take tive
weeks. For himself he hoped 1t would b.
4 closed tonight. He voted faye"
The secretary concluded the calling OF tn
!! roll, and announced the result as follows;
a. Hal
& Holden, Johnson, Mcknight, Nutter, Piper
= Taylor, Thompson, Fenable and the Pres
T. dent-l3.
: Nays Messrs. Browne, DERRICK, Gaine,
d Hatton, Holmes, simms and Tinney-T.
e The previous question was ordercd-yea
% IL, nays 8.
u The secretary proceeded to call the roll o.
e the adoption Of the majority report.
u Mr.. Browne, when his name was called
d said that for the reasons given before h
" would ask to be excused from voting.
Mr.. Hatton read the resolution OF the 90
i of August, aud said that the evidence an
3 the report showed that the contract had nc
been awarded to a competent bidder, becaus
4 the contractor stated on his oath that til
4 only interest he had in the contract was /
!! work there as a laborer; not being competent
/, he turned 1t over to a competent company
i There were great many lawyers, also, bt
fore the committee, and among them til
lO
: furnish the committee the law on the sui
e ject. II they could not inquire into th
N N charges preferred against the Mayor, men
ii bers ought to sit down and 20 out Of III
st chamber.
ed Mr.. Pardon called Nj. Hatton to orde
h.. for the reason that he was debating u
10 question after the previous question wi
Az ordered.
or The President said he was about to sta
h, that Mr.. H. had spoken his five minutes.
w Mr.. Hatton, Undressing the President
A. Let him Mr.. +. take your seat. He
VI better equipped than you are Laughter.
K, Mr.. Holmes desired to explain his vOt
" and commenced reading statement, whe
Il. Mr.. Pardon rose to II point of order.
k Mr.. Holmes said this effort to stop expl
te nation looked very bad-like gag.
ut Mr.. Slmms knew of no gag law.
The President. You must vote direct.
n. Mr.. simms claimed the privilege
to The President. You must vote direct.
~ Mr.. slmlns, (amid much confusion.)
he found that chairman In IL false statement Ia
-, Monday evening. aud for fear Of making
he mistake, vote "No."
er Mr.. Thompson wanted to know why Il
ft / President IN forced the rulp NOW and nllDW