The sun., 1873-05-02


these statements are true, then the financial
condition of the board aud of the district surely
iS in "A very healthy condition. For we know
! mat Congress has since the organization ~ the
board appropriated SLis1.3lH.n5, which svells
the cash receipts TO $l3.14i9i1a, and ought to
leave In their treasury S4,0ltiI42t aft deduct
! M the largest amount which they claim to have
expended, the auditors amount of certificates.
MoIE DISCREPANCIES.
But. strange tn sav, the Auditor and Trcas urcr
ui the board do MT agree any more than the
Auditor and the Comptroller. The Governor IN
n,., n,s m,ssaEe says that hn Trea-nrcr- detailed
Indebtedness 81 576.sBna ''''- ''''''''''"E
So, after all. II turns out that, notwithstanding
they nave in the short period OF twenty-five
months had in their treasury, according lu their
own admission, tl0.OO1 6T6.fi from the District
and, ns everybody knows, t9,iT,3l0u6 more from
the Nh,ionaI Treasury, making grand eum of
nearly Slt"Ocm, they are in debt $lbiOss.2Ol
Hut this is not all. They admit that IL will
cost nearly half million TO complete the work
under way. which will swell their total liabilities
this deficit IA follows:
10 meet This, the report of ,hc assessor, herewith
seesm.ntt on private property, on work sr,ady donc,
ppfopratob' 'rp psahfy fois d9e Sg aceSu9t Of % 800
To show that even these figures will not make
them solvent, Will refer To the Engin, er's re-
port. lie says that the percentage withheld on
account Of work amounts to $3.50. .2U7 which.
added to the total liabilities above given, will
make f2.2N53ls.l2. This will leave the board ia
debt Sll51o9.0l.
is to break the force 81 exposures which have
been made If their violations of the organic act
aud of the act OF the Legislative Assembly, au-
thOriZing the four million loan and the tmuroNp-
tncnt 81 certain streets, according to the plan
and estimates submitted hy the board
inc thirty-seventh section OF tho organic act
contains clause which reads ~ follows:
And said Board Of Public Works shall have no mower
T. make contracts TO bud said eistric to the pos men
ptlstions m de 6y law sud not dn;i, saes appropriS
uons shall have Ucen made.
ha
sembly Charles r. Peck, q member Of the Coun-
cil, opposed all appropriations until the board
ment and submitted detailed estimate Of the
cost OF the same. This opposition fore ed a com
pliance on the part OF the board. They accom-
tanled this plan with a lettcr signed by every
member of the board. In which they saw, among
other things, that the plan "cOntemplates per-
manent improvements In every portion OF the
District of Columbia. and comprises almost every
street and avenue In the cities Of Washingt on
ard ueorgetown. as well as all the roads In the
county. IL provides for the Improvement Of the
streets III the central part of Washington by
iessening the width Of the carriage way and paw
building OF main sewer from Eighth street
northwest to Rock creek: the sewerage OF the
mixing Of large humber Of streets sna IN tbe .i
thickly populated sections of the city. II is
OF the expense To be borne by the Treasury of
the District in making these Improvements and
as IN tho opinion II the board, that amount
will he sufficient to complete them. the neces-
SHY OF annual appropriations, 50 fac as the pros
eCution Of these works Is concerned, will be Oh
waited 10y the passage OF the hill herein respect
IullN recommended. They then GO on to
recommend
THE FoUR MILLION BILL.
and To- argue that they will he enabled to do all
this work twenty PER cent. cheaper by beins en-
ahled to pay cash.
The estimate which they ,Ihmttcd To the
Legislative Assembly mentions In detail every
Improvement they proposed to maNe, aud gave
the estimated cost Of the same. The sum total
looted up less twenty per cent? $65,s.R, u
which Si-iS5,jgS was To- be provided for hy loan
and s2ls,'P was To be assessed ON the prop
erty adjoining and 10 be specially benefited by
the Improvement. authorized hy law" In ac,
cordance with this recommendation Of the
board the Legislative Assembly enacted what i.
known a. the four milton loan act IL pro-
yided Tor the borrowing of S4.uUOn On the
credit of the District and the Issuance of bonds
u also provided IN the most explicit terms that
the board should not exceed In any Instance
their estimated cost Of making their improve
ments. me LANGUAGE u as follows ;" That "a nO
ciS' sltu NJ Sdm hotrt cntsr into n contract for
ere,,d n, dnoum e,tiHdi6d hrrCtor IN H. G'n'.'
Siti P'd"' ts tT'"tg p,IooHtUm of sdU o,t,-
THE srN having shown that in improvin,
thirty streets only the board had expended
Slb,2.2istj m' r. than their estimat" called for,
II was necessary for Boss shepherd and GOV.
Cooke to do something 20 apparently destroy
the eject 81 TINS exposure. l'hey accordingly
produce The report of the Engineer of the
comuleie summary or the transactions Of the
'"srd " Irnm II, gTs!n,fis,on :" AIrl ls5j
report was never seen. II is the
MOST DARErAcED ATTEMPT AT rRArD
ano deception ! ever saw. II hegiss F-'l-
mated cost under GlF SIX hundred and uinr-
teen contracts, aS shown IN the supplemental
report made TO the House Of Representatives
December D ls,2, S649'. .a9O6b. Now what has
tho report that the board made to the House II
red against them Ii 1. the "estiinated cost" Of
plan and estimates which they submitted 10 the
I-gis alive Assembly on the 10th Of June, Isi l.
ana which Is referred to IN the language from
the four million loan act quoted above that We
want them To attend to. That Law says a. plain
as can be said, y on shah not exceed the esti-
mates YOU have furnished US. or make any CON
tract Tor " any work or Improvement the cost ~
which shall exceed the amount est mated there
ior: The sum total Of these estimates
But with hrazen enrunterv the board parades
this report Of their Engineer. which shows that
the total cost ut their improvements thus far
have been S1.h5+ts,0S aad sets forth the esti.
mated cost Of completing work under way To-
which exceeds their estimate submitted To tie
legislative Assembly by sL1t0,l5s.95.
PRovISG THEMSELVES L,wnREtKrRs.
Thus they write them-elyes down in their own
proved hy Gov. Cooke and Incorporated in his
message, viulators u both the organic act and
the act - the Legislative Assembly.
shepherd, when he WAS examined before the
inNt,u-atluE committee at the second csfion
Of the forty-second Congress in reference to
their doings, testified that he recognized this as
limit-that they could not lawfully exceed the
amount they had estimated. The following is
an extract from his testimony. tSee page Jyil
lie II Dut true that not unt-teuth Of The improve
nrlts }uu have commenced have been IN accordance
Know We have gwen you exactly nat hss been done
aud contracted for
Q.-Nhst de- you understand by the language THAT
In no case shall the sad board enter INTO contract tor
t,ei tue amount tstinated therefor m IT, aforesaid
pan srf per cent ~ sald cstmutcss' Does mot that
rDtr 70 a." patuoulr details ~ The Work specified
m That gen raj plan Al regard n as referring to
q To Illustrate suppose there is an estimate IN
that plan for the improvement Of street from given
point 10 given polut and that estimate 10 thousand
dollars Tor The lmproN ement do Jup UNDERSTAND that
pruvtMent Of that street at the rate OF tlO, and to
make up the difference some other street, Al
We changed the character Of the improvement, most
certainly NJ have right 20 eApend a different smoun
W. nnd II necessary TO pave the street With wood.
have the power to decrease the cos Of the improve
ment
Q.-Then what effect doe, this limiting clause upon
the power of the Board Of Puhuc MoTks have? lat
IN fact any limit a. al A,-teralnlY and We have
Kept Ntimn the restrictions imposed upon 70 the let
ter II you take the aggregate Of the improvements
After this exhibit II Is not necessary to 60 fur
ther. They prove themselves first hopelessly in
solvent. and then admit as piSinly as words and
hRuTes can that they have NiUisted the laws
which they have sworn To obey. shall how
ever, In another letter show how they are violat-
ing the laws of the United States IN regard to
the issuance Of currency and bonds by putting
In the market over Sl2uJ,OOJ of certificates.
How Actors Fare Nowadays.
Mr. Augustln DAILY has not only beautined the