Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-02-19
Largest Circulation in the District
Reading Matter on Every Page.
WASHINGTON CITY:
WEDNESDAY...... February 10. 1873.
RO0seye1fs Philippe Against the
Beard Of Public Works.

WEDNEsDAn..... February ID. 1878.
ROoseyelt-s Phtlippte Against the
Beard of Public Works.
In his speech printed In the Globe Of January
%, Mr.. ROosevelt's great object is by a manipu-
btion Of the figures embraced in the report OF
the Board Of Public Works TO expose the bad
faith-the 'sblunders or frauds"-of the board in
its estimates or statements, and charges either
directly or by implication that these have been
deliberately prepared with the purpose of
deceiving Congress and the public. We have
now before US the reply Of Gen. Chapman. Let
Us see how far Mr.. Roosevelt makes good his
charges We shall use Gen. Chipman's. facts
and figures
Mr.. ROosevelt's 6rst grave charge is. that the
board is guilty of ga great blunder or fraud, in
MS statement of the amount of work done. en-
brseing, as he states il, "ifty-six miles of wood
and concrete pavements," and adding to this
enough" Of 'grsnite, - "macadam, - and "cob-
ble-s;one" pavements and country roads, to
make a total of one hundred and fifteen miles
These the board computes as embracing ,s92, 9J2
square yards. But Mr.. Roosevelt computes
them as containing "more than 2,l67 900 square
yards" and charges fraud upon the board of
''oyer $4,000 square yards" which, estimated
ut $3.50 per square yard, would make differ
ence in their cost Of "about a million of dol
ton, furnishes statement which demonstrates
the accuracy of the boards statement. Mr.
Roosevelt computes all the roadway at 80 feet
IN width, ignoring the fact, clearly set forth in
the report OF the board. that 81 % miles of the
us were only 20 feet wide: and a computation
uPon this basis disposes Of Mr.. Roosevelts error
cr fraud of ''over 272,0Oo square yards and his
almost . millions difference" in their price.
With great show of fairness, Mr. Roosevelt
next compares the cost Of laying these rs miles
of pavements. From table xii of the report he
deduees the average cost Of the payements at
"over si0'' per lineal foot, and applies this
multiple to IS miles of the us miles of pave
ment laid. He thus fixes the whole cost of these
&c miles at ell ST zoo. His object in this is to
show that the cost of these IS miles Is more than
double the whole cost, as stated by the board.
of the lis miles. But what are the facts?
General Chapman gives them in the following
table:
3i.Ti miles of wood pavement. 50 .2sI III 20
Sos miles of round block pavement los, 9OS IS
=. miles of compound pavement
at S65, O6-55 per mile. 51.I65 30
1854 miles OF concrete pavement at
ete,0ii56 per mile ........... 9Sf ,63j 20
5s.T Making a total of. . 80 ,is5. sss e5
And showing "blunder or fraud, in Mr.
ROoseyelt's statement of SS,3ii ,3l3.O5!
The unfairness, If not mendacity. of this pre-
tended showing Is further illustrated in the fact
that. although Mr.. r. knew that some of these
- miles of pavements cost per square yard only
Si-J0, other s1.T5, other 1910, and other as %,
yet he uses the highest price (sJO) for all in hi
estimate of their cost, and this deliberately as
means of swelling his charge of fraud against
the board to the heaviest figure possible
Again and again Mr.. Roosevelt returns TO
these hfty-six miles of payements. Finding on
M 10 nj he
OF the cost Of finishing fifteen avenues named.
footing up, to use his own language, s'the enor-
nous sum Of 8, $50 ,702-.S.''S' He computes, or
pretends to do so, the length of>these. avenues
at ten miles, and dividing the length into the
estimated cost, finds the cost per mile TO be
S265.@s0- He then applies this cost per mile to
the hfty-six miles. He saws AT that rate the
hfty-six miles would cost sII .Ooo leaving
still the residue OF the rs miles to be estimated,
Now the true length of these avenues is 2i.3
miles, instead OF ten, Mr.. IL. states il. Con-
sequently, the cost per mile is Sl24 +is, instead
Of s265.07o-less than One-half of Mr.. r, est,-
mates, and thus is exposed another '.blunder or
fraud" in Mr.. RO0se yelt's calculations OF near
Ssyeoooos!
And Mr.. Roosevelt attempts to support these
systematic misrepresentation by pretending to
take from the tables of assessments of the re-
port the cost per lineal foot TO Law these pave
ments. He states 1t at sI272 per Iineal foot.
But the real cost Of laying these payements is
only sli-'s-anOther "bunder of fraud, In Mr..
kooseyelts statements of 5000 in the Iineal
loot, and the average cost per lineal foot of ALI
tue improvements on the street.-the LAYING of
these psvements and all other work-as shown
hy the tables Of assessments, is 1896. and NOT
S2I2. But Gen. Chapman shows that to apply
any price in such a calculation, a street of 80
feet roadway should be used, such as Twelfth
street, ~ $3.50, or Fourth street. at s2i.2s, and
even then The result will necessarily be largely
IN excess Of the actual cost, because, i'm the as
sessments all the Intersections of streets all the
expenses incurred in front OF property exempt
from taSation-such a. churches, schools. allev
openings, and other property exempt from tax
alton BY special acts of Congress-are charged
TO the front foot Of assessable property, and be-
cause the avenues and other wide streets must
OF necessity cost more than streets the width of
which 4 assumed at % feet, on which width the
length of ffty-six miles is based.
Mr.. Roosevelt further attempts to support
The "blunders or frauds, of his extraordinary
calculations by arranging in tabular form six
teen contracts, giving and contrasting their
Estimated and actual cost, as furnished by the
tables in the report OF the board. By this he
lsbors TO show that the actual is in excess of the
N-'haeCU OO-t ONNI NJD,|1J IN u total OF
II ,0ss 90. This he does with characteristic
accuracy and fairness. General Chapman has
taken this table OF sixteen contracts, and after
supplying Its omissions and otherwise correcting
its figures, thus making them conform to the
real figures Of the report from which Mr.. r.. pre-
tends to take them, General q. shows that in
some cases, as in that Of Twelfth street (George
Nietzey's, In which Mr.. II. makes the actual
exceed the estimated cost 81, lS9.95,) and that
of the East Capitol street sewer "a. Campbells,
In which Mr.. r. makes the actual exceed the
estimated cost s21 ,25S.i0,) the estimated cost is
really in excess Of the actual cost. General G.
also shows that in the aggregates of the estimated
and actual cost Of these sixteen contracts the
actual exceeds the estimated cost only s2i3, 4li5s
instead Of $50, 80 3, stated by Mr.. Roosevelt
A critical examination OF this table shows
that this excess h caused almost wholly by thres
OF the sixteen contracts-that H. by tae acct
dental omission of the estimate for the extern
sion Of Tiber creek sewer, (sG no. but which
Is given on another page of report; by the ex-
cess In Patrick Cullinane's contract for Four