New-York tribune., 1873-04-17

follows: "The foregoing presents the exact Isss
OF the transactions OF the Board up TO Novemol - &
as found in the printed report Of the Board sleo % o
time certain contracts and extensions nav the Roard
as al ted i'm the re mort OF the engineer OF thc hu"
(Exhbit T. aud D) appended hereto amounting 70 s1H1 &
$40 81 There Is d sso epoye hereto appended x
hbit ~, amounting to sl6SA o. 40 hherefofore shown
will give the sum of s2lO097G 49, up 10 Dec nhe e
port of the Board shows the anouhe uuc 81 lIoll Wv
limited states for improvements bordering ON reserv
mons and other Government property az stated In inc
reuort Images a. TO 5 amounting 10 siy4" W. eaNus
nited siate alb9 c55 81 To meet this. the Board
ports s unreazed assets as gwen u pages 10 anu 10 VI
ther printed report, composed manly OF assessihenls
a@ainst property for improvements, f220OOOO.' THIS
gives their assets, above oil Indebtedness as o4O9 ~
inyolved in the resolution, wit, what win be
required TO finish the work undertaken by the Board
The Committee report that from the communications
herewith submitted aud the printed report of the BoaT
no further Will be required TO complete the work
undertaken and for which liabilities have been incurred
than those included in the foregoing estimates In the
letter of MIR. shepherd TO Mr. starkweather, under
date of Dec. c, which may be found on page
: Of the report, he says, alludng to the Boards g
liabilities, as given In the foregoing statement OF
ali work undertaken by the Board Mr.. II. G. Phillips,
the Boards Chief Engineer, in letter to Mr. stark
weather, of the same date says This statement -
meaning that upon which starkweathers report Is
made" all work authorized by any act OF the
Legislature and substantially all work included IN thelr
comprehensive plan of improvements or adopted since
by the Board Beyond the work embraced In this letter
any projected improvements" t viii be seen 10y TINS
report of Mr. Starkweather that the Board
against property the 9th of last December amounted
TO 22OOOO On the st of November the Board III Iner
annual report put the assessments at SCoOoOo nov
Mr. Shepherd. in his letter To THE TRIBUNE, estimates
them at $2,G66OOO. Here are three sta'emenls
each claiming 10 be correct, and vet all difer-
the first and the second and s666OOo between the first
and the last II cannot be said that this difference Is
statements pretend to snow what will be the toia
amount Of all assessments for ali woTk under py
reports the total the Boards liabilities on the ON OF
last December for all improvements aud projected i'm
exact amount OF their liabilities There Is or rather
should be- no guess-work about tnis. II is AN official
statement made TO Congress, aud certified to 10y hr
Shepherd as correct aud t covers every conc .yaue
made contemplated In the future. Mr. sarkweYt ther
further asserts tnat the resources OF the Board are a
pie and that "no further will be needed TO COM
nlete the work undertaken" Now mark the sequel
THREE MILLIONS APPROPRIATED II TWO MONTHS
Since that time Congress has made appropriations
for the Board as follows: In January sl,2092o 9!i
in March, to reimburse tue late corporation loi
work done around Government reservations, slsso 75
TO complete improvements Of streets and avenues now
in progress opposite nnd around Government property
$9S,497 2G TO reimburse The city OF Washington iol
improvement OF the avenues OF SAID clty ana ] loI
of private property aud not included ,r, In aPpr", ,
priatOns heretofore made slOOyOOi iuis iaSo tn
appropriation is made available aud payable 10 the
Board OF Public Works Ou aud after the passage Ol
around government reservations not heretofore
paid S1O6,j33 The total OF these apptopnatiohs
n s3 4s g5s o. or about one-laf OF what Mr. Stark
weather reports as the total Of all the Boards liabilities
of every kind and exceeding Onehat the cost o1 All the
Boards improvements and projected improvements as
stated by Messrs Starkweather shepherd, TO the
amount OF Sl29G37 40. Is any further PROOF tau ts
needed TO establish the fact thathe Board sent iase
report to the President, and tat no reliance WhatNr
can be placed upon the statements OF shepherd ana Ms
associatesl The journal of the House OF Representa-
fives shows that sarkweather after reporting in De
cember that the Board required "nO further sum 70
couplete the work undertaken and that their assets
over aud above all Indebtedness sl0iO9S voted
oa,r II thc ststrments made In MIR Siarkweaher's
Qrt qrqc
for the Board OF Public Works within the past iOui
provements made in the District Columbia during the
past TWO years. Now, what should De me hn'Lcil con
dOn Of the Board to-day, If Nj. StarkWedtDer MADE
true report? 1t should he as follows:
ASSETS
Assessments against private propertySA2-OOO0 10
Appropriations made by Congress since
Jan. /, 3Afs''o3 70
Total of .s5ClS,g5J g5
LIABILITIES.
Total Of liabilities, as shown 10y Stark
Wcathers reports. ..s-'f'"'SI S3
Total of assets above al indebted
nrss ............ g 9f7,957 80
II we deduct from TINS sum the S2,2oGOO special
assessments as stated by stark weather and the g3O
appropratiOu not available until july, we will have
cash balance Of $l3917 % which should bc IN the treas
nry of the Board after iQuidatins all their liabilities.
Rnt Mr. SHEPHERD writes To The TRIBUNE that there is
now due contractors Sl5OOO This should be added 10
the bOve have in the treasury OF he Board by
The figures Of Shepherd and SarkweaieT S.6jg77 80.
This is or should the present cash balance To get
what should be the cash balance after the 1T OF July
add S93OOO which viii be due from the United states AZ
that time Add these Two sums together aud We VIII
have $247 g77 30 s net cash balance that snOul be
the hands ot the Board on and after the lst OF July
COST OF IMPROVEMENTS PROBABLY FIFTEES MILLIONS
There can be eyading these hsuras They were all
furnished aud certified TO correct by Messs Shepherd
and starl,weather. Up to this this time all the figures
have given arc theirs. Bot surprising as II may seem
this IS less than hall the amount that shoud be in the
Boards treasury. II should be bOrac III mind that tho
BOads statement Of liabilities embraces the cost oi All
contemplated improvements. It should also be borne
I'm Al e il
peCd, ana that contractors are not paid IN advance
wherefore there should be added 10 the foregoing cash
balance just much rs 1t VIII require TO complete the
in progress and contemplated Tor the ttuTe,
The cost of the unfinished is yaiousy estimated
M from S3OOJ,O0J to $5,OOJ0D. | viii put 10
at the lowest estimate, $OOO0oO, which. added
10 the astnamed sum, makes s5;54l97 80, which
fhe Board should have hand in July, providing it
pays out 10 money between this and that time.
Add Ia this sum the S2OJO Oi special assessments 8nG
we will then have total of assets for the Board Of
S74Lg77 go Now compare this amount all but S0O0C0O
of which furnished 10y Messrs shepherd and stark
weather with Shepherds statement III TIE TRIBUNE,
where after adding in all the special assessments, The
amount due from the United states after july /. ana
S52 900 that be claims to be due on the 0OOJ loan ne
only makes the assets Of the Board $,15l0y. stark
weatlers report th0ugh lhtehdt 10 smtId Ihe bOard
from exposure, when taken in connection with the many
contradictory statements Of shepherd has the opposite
effect IL is the Key by when We arc enabled 10 unock
the door TO the hidden mysteries OF the Boards laOi
ties. 1t proves, as the Board mas now an empty treas
ury, that the improvements MADE ana contaminated
cost about sl3OaoOJ, instead OF S,OOGOOO,
as stated by them. Probably sl5mooo0 wOGld
be nearer the actual cost as must DC
evident TO all who know anything about the affairs Of
District that Shepherd IN his letter 70 The TRIBUNE
understaed the amount due 10 contractors, by least
S2OOOUOO. Mr.. Shepherds explanation OF the way he
cot amount OF the Boards special assessments
stated by your correspondent III IHL TRIBUNE OF the
nth inst. Is certainly novel; and would be laugbabe,
were the interests involved. IL that he
gets the amount Of $2GG60)o by dividing SaOOOO0 the
gross amount appropriated by the Legislature and Con-
gress 10y three, the ground that the organic act
authorizes Board TO Onethrd the cost Of ali
improvements upon the property bordering thereon He
to forget that Of the amount appropriated in
March S1IssOO2 10 reimburse the late corpora
ton OF Washington for work done before the Board
came into power; also that OF the amount
appropriated by the Legislature, SjlJ.190 was
Tor rapars contingencies. clerk hire &c also that